Bust A Move...

It's official. I am a fan of online Christmas shopping now! After cruising Amazon for days and days - I have gifts taken care of for my neice, nephew (with them shipped to HAWAII for FREE!), a start on my Mom and almost ALL of my kids' gifts! YES! While I don't feel like I'm quite all the way there, it's a start! :) Big bonus of the whole "event" - no searching store after store to try and figure out what to get... I might just finish most of my shopping online!

Very exciting, right? Well, maybe not for you - but for me, oh so much! :)

Only 15 days left... Merry Christmas...



Beating out the scrooge...

* * * CHRISTMAS 2011 * * *



Today is December 5th, and it's almost over! - 20 more days until Christmas, 19 until my boys open all their gifts before they go to their Dad's house for the 2nd half of break (AHH, the fun of divorce - sharing). So, as this wonderful time approaches, how is this Mommy of three feeling? Like a big ole cranky SCROOGE!

Exhibit A: How I'm feeling...

So, each day I contemplate - how in the world do I get this feeling to GO AWAY! I'm not even sure why I'm stuck in this funk, but here I am. Part of me thinks it is because our house is too small to decorate (even some cute decorations would just look like clutter, it's pretty packed in here!) - and part of me thinks I'm scared once I start shopping it is going to be hard to get something for everyone on the list, and I think it causes some underlying anxiety... but I guess I just need to find ways to get in the mood, to find my ...

I somehow think this will be easier said than done. . . so, I'm going to try a few things and see how it goes!

   1) Pray about it. . . Surely finding the joy in the celebration of the birth of Christ could be helped along with a little prayer. . .

    2) Baking. I've started practicing treats for Christmas celebrations ... hoping it helps get me in the spirit. . .

    3) I suppose, shopping will be on the list eventually - hopefully some planning and careful BUDGETING of the money we've set aside will take the stress out of this event. Anyone want to come along?

    4) Did I mention I should probably pray a bit more? :)

As we speed through the next 19 days . . . enjoy preparing for such a wonderful time of year to spend with family.... and maybe, if you've got a minute, send up a shout-out to the Big Guy for me to BEAT OUT THIS SCROOGEness I've got!!

:) Merry Christmas :)

Slacker... a title I use too often...

So, I try to write here, post it - don't like it so much. BUT, I'm not one to post & delete, I figure it's out there so, out there it will stay. Somehow the entire year is slipping by and it's almost December, seriously! How did that happen?! DANG... so what's new? 

Pinterest. Have you tried it? Be careful, you could see hours slip away in moments - though, many great ideas could spring from said sessions of cruising Pinterest... I'm hoping to try some of the yummy looking recipes and awesome DIY ideas! :) First up with the boys tomorrow night, GLOWING MT. DEW - must try it! ... anywho... check. it. OUT!



Thanksgiving... NEXT WEEK! Shut the front door! My FAVORITE... the only holiday spent with my Dad's side of the family as a whole... a super weekend filled with Hunting, Games, Fabulous Food and this year a few tears I'm sure - some years are rough and when there is loss, it seems to hit hard on this day - this year we'll be toastin' Fletcher, who was for sure taken MUCH too soon! ...

Up Next... December. Potlucks, Ornament Exchanges, Parent's Day Out, "Men's Club!" (you didn't hear that from ME!), and Christmas Vacation... and then the biggie - Christmas. Time to start Christmas shopping... Robs and I like to accomplish this task in a timely fashion, about Dec. 23 or so... we're good shoppers under pressure! Ha! Sad but true, and this year I am going to try and be a little more ahead of the game! ;)

Ok... I guess this Slacker post will do for now... One more update on the Jax man.. Wrestling is mostly at an end for this year, he did fantastic this season and seems to love it. Little brother is ready to get on board in the spring! One last tourney this year on Dec 3rd in Moscow - THANK GOODNESS it's close!! This year we traveled to - Kooskia, Orofino, Lewiston and Cottonwood! YIKES! :)

Happy Thanksgiving week!! :)

Who knew!?

Seriously. (my favorite word) ... 

WHO KNEW my little man Jaxson could be such a tough little one! Today he wrestled for the first time ever at his first ever tournament. ;) His age group was kiddos born in the year 2004 & 2005 - we was put in the 87# weight class (he weighed in at 69# today). He got to wrestle three matches today. In his first match, he learned that wrestling is not easy. He got a well experienced opponent that knew what was going on, but he looked pretty fearless. I'm pretty sure my Mom cried as he was slammed on the mat multiple times, yelling out in pain, before getting pinned in the 2nd round. Ouch. He came off the mat, upset and obvoiusly yanked out of his fantasy of how it was going to happen! After a few minutes, he was calm and ready to try again!

Match 2 - this was much better. As I mentioned before, his class was up to 87# and he was 69#... I'm pretty sure opponent #2 was one of the kiddos at the height of this class - and you could think being a bit bigger would be an advantage BUT his weight was mostly around his little love handles... To Jaxson's favor, he was a bit slow and Jaxson managed to get a pin in the 1st round, YAY! A WIN!

Match 3 - This round Jaxson wrestled a teammate that he had practiced against earlier in the week. ;) After some coaching by Kiel (his dad) on how to do a half-nelson to roll your opponent to his back - he was able to get this one with a pin in round 2!  ;) yay!

By the end of it all he was 2-1 with two pins and 12 points total, he got a 2nd place medal and was super excited! Looks like we might have years of wrestling ahead of us! ;)

Also, WHO KNEW... my kids would never stop growing. They both gained over 1" since July - no wonder their pants keep looking like capris ... these kiddos are going to break the bank!! ;)

Slacker!!

So, it's been almost two months since I have posted here... what a slacker! In my defense, my computer is DEAD and I have to steal one from my parents when I need a computer... my awesome daddy brought one over for me to use, so many I can post a bit - we'll see. 

Summer has FLOWN by, it is pretty much gone! From my previous list of stuff to do, we've accomplished most of them. We've had a few camping trips, even one in the yard.  We've hit the park and pool a few times - but could probably do that more often, by the time it was hot I was working too much and we missed out - hoping to go a few times this next week- MY LAST WEEK OF SUMMER WITH THE BOYS! - We did hit Silverwood this month - it was fun but OH SO EXHAUSTING! WOW. We had 6 kids and 3 adults - it worked out pretty ok though. The weddings this summer, missed them all - something always came up, I'm pretty sure they didn't miss me. And last but not least, gardening - yup, pretty much a fail. My Dad & Mom did an AWESOME job with their 3+ plots that they made! It was a hard year to garden anyway, and they rock. ;)

Two weeks... that's all that is left until SCHOOL STARTS!! It's crazy, I'm super excited for it - Jaxson will be in 2nd grade, mixed with the 3rd grade class - he'll be in the same room as his cousin Taylor - should be interesting! Landon will be doing his last year of Preschool, I wish a little bit he could be moving to Kindergarten, but he's 2 months too young, so he'll have to chill in Preschool with his best buddy Cora - I know he misses her this summer! ;) Reisse is just going to have to sit back and watch for a few years - today she is 18 months old, time is flying! How did my kids get so big!? Yikes!!

Off to get Reisse's 1 year pics, technically she's still a year old right?

Fabulous Friday Foto... (A little Early)

This picture will probably follow my poor daughter for life... We were using the tent as a giant play yard while camping, and she decided that she wanted out - and as she was smashing her face up against the netting yelling at me, I snapped away (as any responsible parent would!).. Enjoy.

Happy Weekend!

xoxo

Fabulous Friday "Foto" ... hahaha...

Just thought I'd post a pic today...

 Happy Friday!!




My most wonderful parents!! :) <3

 

Way Back When...

For some moments in life there are no words...

     My sister lost a friend today. We're not even 30 yet - losing friends is something that we shouldn't have to face at our age. It's heartbreaking and somehow seems unfair when a person has to leave this earth too soon - at least too soon in our eyes.

     I'm not sure I ever actually met this friend - I heard about her lots and of course saw her & Jess interact on facebook - but I know she seemed to be very good & loyal to Jess - and that was all I needed to know. As I realized what had happened online today - I went over to her friend's facebook and saw the dreaded messages on her wall - "we miss you" "we love you" ... and it got worse - she was 31 weeks pregnant and baby didn't make it either - needless to say, the tears were flowing - all day I kept coming back to the thoughts of her and her tragic exit from this world - and I would sob (I think the babies & Landon thought I'd lost it). The thought of her breaks my heart. The thought of her family (a husband, and two boys, and many more I'm sure), broke my heart more. But, what seems the hardest is that Jess is an ocean away - pregnant herself, and having to deal with this loss. I want so badly to be there for her and hug her and let her tell stroies of her friend - or whatever she needs... but I'm here and she's there. I hope she knows I'm thinking of her and miss her terribly!

     Funny how we couldn't get along while we lived in the same house and now I'd give up so much just to have her in a days distance from me... I so wish our little girls could be playmates and we could visit eachother more often... it seems when your only connection is FB, Phone, Skype - it's easier to say "I'll call tomorrow"... but I need to do better.

    Things like this, they make you think of the people in your life. How quickly things can be snatched from your grasp. The thought of losing a child, spouse, parent - they kill me. Once in a while as I fall asleep I find myself in a thought pattern of loss - and find my self sitting up in bed thinking of anything else I can to get my mind off things I can't control. It's hard. I have a hard time sending my boys to their dad's house, it seems to get  a little easier as they get older, but I still worry. They can't defend themselves or make choices in their situation sometimes - but I just have to have faith that God is watching over them and His plan is His plan - even if I hate it sometimes.

     I'm trying to focus on my family - focus on cherishing them and not rushing through everything during the day. I've been blessed with such an amazing family - joy overflows from my heart when I think of them... I need to remember to stop and pay attention to the small things... you never know when they won't be there anymore.

What to do... What to do?!

Summer is VERY quickly approaching...(I know, the weather might seem to disagree with that statement but it's on the way, promise!) Do you have a plan for the summer? Or a list of "want to do" this summer? I do... who knows what we'll get through... here are just 5 of my to-do's...

1) Camping...
    We got a super cute and pretty big tent this year - for our little family this year... now when we crash Mom & Dad's camp site at Boyer, we can at least have our own space instead of cramming into the camper... They've been nice and let us stay in before, but I think we're getting a little big to crash the camper!!  Hopefully we can make good use of it at least a few weekends this summer!

2) Going to the park, maybe the pool...
   While financially it is hard sometimes - right now I am blessed with working only two days a week - which makes for plenty of fun days to go to the park!! I'm hoping we get to go play at the park lots this summer... maybe even hit the swimming pool, maybe. That will require my LEAST favorite activitiy - SWIMSUIT shopping! ugh. I think I will retire my suit from FOUR years ago and find a nice one peice to wear with my shorts (I always wear shorts!)... Maybe if I can find a good suit I'll be ok with going to water aerobics... that would be nice... we'll see.

3) Rollercoaster Anyone?

I am DYING to go to Silverwood this year - I want to ride the Aftershock rollercoaster again so badly!! I'm hoping for a day up there with my hubby - just the two of us - maybe our Mini-Honyemoon... hopefully we can do it. We'll be taking Jaxson up again too, he got a free ticket for doing 10 hours of reading earlier this year - so I'm thinking maybe he will take a friend (and brother of course) up for a birthday trip! Maybe I'll get away with no big party this year!

4) The usual summer activity it seems...

   Do you have a wedding to go to this summer?? We do, so far - three.. let's hope that's it! That's a lot of weddings - luckily there are 5 weekends in July - because we have a wedding on three of them!! I feel like I'm forgetting one, hopefully not!

5) The biggest challenge of them all!!!

LEARNING HOW TO GARDEN...  ya, it's going to be a challenge. The weather is not helping my case either. There are two GORGEOUS garden plots that my dad has made - waiting to be seeded - hopefully this week we can get it going - and I'm hoping to learn ... maybe next year have our own plots... it's something that I need to learn - I will learn. :) It'll happen...



There are lots of things that we'll be doing this summer... lots of things that I'd like to do, learn, and there are LOTS of habits I'd like to develop (maybe that'll be my next list)! Hopefully I can do some of them!

I hope summer (real summer, the warm and beautiful kind) shows up soon!! :)  xoxo

Ch Ch Ch Changes....

Who knew that changing the way you eat food could be so dang hard! I had NO clue how much food I snacked on and consumed during the day!! How much food I could just sit down and eat in one sitting - holy crap! No wonder the baby weight hasn't even sort of/kinda came off!

 Have you ever thought about what you eat during the day? If you have a little one that you feed often, do you eat when the baby eats? Do you order whatever sounds good when you go out to eat - without thinking about how much they load on those plates... well, I am now. Not sure that I like it either! I used to love just eating and eating... now all I think about it how much food it actually is - and how much I really don't need it, no matter how good it tastes! Sometimes it makes food not fun at all.. but sometimes it makes you appreciate the food you do get to eat much better!!

Now for the cutie babies...........................

Falling asleep with the Cheez-its... bad sign! hahaha.... what a silly boy!

Sweet Jaxson and his missing teeth... PS: Landon took this picture...

And the sweet baby girl...



My life in numbers...

I did it last night. Signed up for Weight Watchers - over the past two weeks I have slowly been giving up the soda, and at least been losing the urge to drink 5+ a day... this past week I started tracking calories, and let me tell you - it basically sucks! Calories are hard to track acurately and seems to not help at all! The one day I decided to just eat at will - I lost weight the next day... ugh. My grandma Nancy has been doing the new WeightWatchers since January, she is down approximately 30+ pounds!! She looks AMAZING and is very dedicated to her program! I know quite a few others who are having success as well - so I figured, why not?! Here. We. Go!

Today was my first full day of "points" ... everything has a number - but amazingly there are lots of things that are FREE! 0 Points! woohoo!! hahaha... luckily for me today, Strawberries is one such food.. I'm still learning how to divide my points for the day, and not wanting to get to dinner with no points to spare, I basically ate strawberries and a turkey pita sandwich for the day... I had 20 to spare at dinner, so I had my pasta - which any other day would be WAY too many by the end of the day and had a pepsi as a treat... I'm hoping tomorrow is better, grandma Nancy gave me some resources to look and study - like her first few months of tracking to see how she ate every day. :) Should be interesting... She took my measurements for me tonight and we weighed on her scale - I will weigh on Monday mornings now, we'll see how it goes! Wish me luck!! ;)

Sunny Days... please don't go away!!

Today was SO BEAUTIFUL!! The sun was out - it was nice and warm and being inside was NOT an option!! Today Landon had a playdate with his preschool buddy - Cora... They are so cute together - I love watching them run around and play! They played outside at our house and after lunch we went to the park for a while... super fun times! Now that we're super used to all this great weather - it's supposed to rain tomorrow - super. At least we got a little sun and shine for a while! ;)

While at the park - I was reminded that my youngest little one is rapidly becoming a little monkey - she eats a banana every day for breakfast AND her favorite activity is CLIMBING! On the couch, on the table, on the dog, up the stairs, up the slide.... she's fast and crazy good at getting UP and fast! YIKES! She definitely keeps us all on our toes! I'm sure it's only going to get harder and harder to catch her...

Also in this fine weather - we've had some super fun T-ball!! Yeah! ;) Jaxson did great his first game!! ;) He smacked the ball great and stopped a pretty speedy grounder AND threw it right to first! YAY... the concept is catching up with him!! :) Can't wait for all the years ahead watching the kiddos' games!!

First Birthdays... oh the fun!

First birthdays are such a fun thing... but they can also be kindof saddening for some Mommies - it's the point at which you realize you no longer have a sweet little baby but a movin' and shakin' toddler... Hang on tight!

One of my bestest friend's experienced just such an event today! Her first child, Hatley - turned a big ONE! She enjoyed a classic first birthday theme - John Deere Tractors with a hint of pink, any farm girl's dream! :) She did great and had lots of friends there to celebrate with her. We love Hatley -

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROO!!

I've been through three first birthdays... The first for Jaxson was a Race Car Birthday! Over the top -60 people with a potluck, penant race flags all over, flags in every telephone pole from town to our house (almost 3 miles of poles)... and lots of cake! Yummy yummy Costco cake (my favorite, a MUST have for every birthday for Jaxson...) ...

Jaxson's 2nd Birthday

(I don't have a pic of #1 on this computer!)

Landon's first birthday was a costume party - he was "Landon the Lion" and adorable... it was sized down a bit - only 30 people or so - and lots of pizza instead of a potluck since it couldn't be outside - too cold in October!! Landon had cake for his first birthday - but he's had ice cream every year since then - he does NOT like cake, not at all! It's kind of weird, but for his birthday he is allowed to be picky!

Landon's First Birthday

Reisse just celebrated her first year this February - she got a pretty small gathering with about 30 people and again more Pizza... She enjoyed her cake but unlike the other two kiddos - she'd had cake since she was old enough to be eating food - seems the more kids I have the more liberal I get with what they can eat in that first year - I guess if we have a fourth that baby will have a well rounded taste for food by the time he/she is one!

Reisse's First Birthday

OK ... Happy weekend to all ...

Motivation... know where I can get some?

  Spring is here! I think, maybe? I hope! For some reason all my "motivation/ambition" to start working out is connected to the weather ... so if it's freezing cold, no walking for me! I even have a treadmill in the shop behind our house, and yet - no walking for me... So, what is it that I have to do to convince myself to GET OFF MY TUSH?! 
   Don't even get me started on eating better... I am the worst!! My big bad habit - SODA! I am finding it almost impossible to give up - and for some reason, water is my cryptonite! Over-sensitive taste-buds that only like the well water I was raised on, even the cooler water at work tastes funny for me, I'd much rather grab some soda...  
   So... how do I kick this bad attitude? Start to think better and get going!? I keep saying - when the weather is better, but somehow I think I'll still end up too busy, too tired... unless I can just kick it into gear... Step one... cut the soda! Step two... move my tush! Step three... keep it up...

Wish me luck...

And for fun, a pic of my lil' girl playin' at "The Train Store" . . .