I'll Huff, and I'll Puff...

Big bad wolf, PLEASE don't blow this little piggy's house down. I don't know if this house of sticks and stones is going to stand up to your powerful blowing.

I'm not speaking in metaphors...our wind is kind of freaking me out. It's days like this all I can do is pray that Richmond American Homes really put all the nails and screws in the walls that they were suppose to...other wise our roof may end up a few hundred yards away. Holy Smokes.

Kyle actually came to me this morning and said "Mommy, I'm scared of the wind, make it stop." I told him to yell as loud as he could to 'go away wind', which he did, but it didn't seem to work! We then ended up in his room cuddling for a while singing songs to drown out the noise a bit. Although I don't love the wind, I'll take cuddle time any way I can get it!

Our Christmas

Christmas came a little early for me! (Well, just by one day.) Scott surprised me on Christmas Eve with tickets to the matinee showing of Legally Blonde The Musical at the Kennedy Center.
What a fun start to a couple of GREAT days! I've got to give it to him, since we've been married his gift-giving has definitely gotten better and better by the year!! ;) Thanks babe, for such a thoughtful and fun gift.

After the show we came home and had a really nice relaxing evening with just our little family. It was wonderful! We snacked on shrimp cocktail, cheese, pizza pockets, and some other fun snacky stuff. We capped the evening off by watching Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (The old school animated one of course!) and then settled in for a nice winters sleep!

Here is a 'before' picture of the tree and Santa's surprises... (Oh shoot, your just going to have to use your imagination, I forgot to rotate the picture before downloading it!!)

...And here is Kyle with all his loot!He was THRILLED with all his fun things on Christmas morning. A big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Walters for the awesome trampoline and books. Grandma and Grandpa Pugmire for the Kitty Webkin. Uncle Eric and Family for the AWESOME zoomer toy and movie. Uncle Tom and Aunt Jill for the Moon Sand. And Santa for the bicycle and Elefun game.

Whew! One spoiled kid. Thankfully he's just spoiled, and not a brat! (I guess that is just my humble opinion!)

It was so much fun to watch Kyle open his gifts. He's finally starting to 'get it' this year. He was so happy and excited, yet very gracious thanking everyone after each gift (even though they weren't here to hear it!)

Last but certainly not least, our traditional family picture in front of the tree...
Oh, and this last picture is for Grandma and Grandpa...Kyle obviously LOVES his new tramp.

The true spirit of CHRISTmas.

I walked into our living room a week or two ago and came upon this...

I LOVE this time of year, and I LOVE that Kyle can spend minutes on end (which is a lot for a 3 1/2 year old) playing with 'his' nativity set. The angel sings 'Away in a Manger', and I can't even begin to count how many times we have heard it over the past few weeks...and I'm not even sick of it! I'll take 'Away in a Manger' any day over some of the crazy stuff we hear these days.

NO Fear!

We took these pictures of Kyle on Thanksgiving morning. We were staying at Scott's Aunt's house in NC. This was in the room that Scott and I were staying in. Kyle quickly found out that air mattresses are much more fun than regular old bed mattresses!! Seriously, the kid has NO FEAR!I guess it's about time for us to find some tumbling classes!

Oh, and here is a little video of his tuck-n-rolls! (Sorry about the blurring, the video is just from our still camera!)

We'll SO miss you!

Our heaven sent visitor left this morning. We've been so blessed to have my mom, a.k.a. Grandma Sandy, in town for the past 10 days. Of course we ALWAYS love when she visits, but her visit this time around was especially timely.

My body is taking this pregnancy so different than with Kyle. Although I had the blood pressure issue with K-man, (as well as this time around) I always felt like a champ. I was lucky enough to not get sick and to not have too many eating issues. By the time the second trimester rolled around I had plenty of energy, etc. NOT SO THIS TIME AROUND! This pregnancy has just left me exhausted and not feeling well most of the time. And instead of it getting better, I kind of think its just getting worse. Needless to say, my sweet hubby Scott hasn't had too many decent meals in the past few months. I'm sure he enjoyed not having to eat fast food while my mom was here. (When I felt like I could eat it, I know I did!) She also is a CHAMPION dish washer! Thanks mom, for giving me a break on dishes the whole time you were here.

Another MAJOR accomplishment is that Kyle is super close to being potty trained! I had all but given up on him, but we kept telling him that as soon as grandma got here that he was going to have to be a 'big boy'! The addition of another adult seemed to be the trick. He's got the whole potty thing down and has only had one or two accidents in a week...we're still working on the 'other' issue. Let's just say that in the morning we keep a pull-up on because I'd rather throw away the mess than have to wash it out! By afternoon, once the deed has been done, he's good to go with wearing big boy undies! Yea for us! We're almost there! I can definitely handle one pull-up a day until he gets the poop thing down.

On top of everything else, she helped me to get the last four or five remaining boxes upstairs unpacked (yes, we've only been moved for two years!) And she was a great companion for me during the craft show on Saturday.

I'm pretty sure that Kyle lives his little version of 'heaven on earth' when Grandma is in town. He got her all to himself for 10 days. She surprised him with lots of new books, which she read over and over... and over! She played with him every time he asked, and got to have lots of cuddles and tickles. It was wonderful!

So, just like always, her visit was fantastic! Being pregnant, I really appreciated all the help and breaks she gave me. Just having her here for moral support was priceless.

Thanks mom, for being my very best girl friend. Thanks for loving me unconditionally and being there for me no matter how emotional I am. Thank you for all the help you are and for being such a great example to me. Thank you for being such an amazing Grandma to Kyle and the future little Pug. I love you SO much and can't wait untill we can see you again.

Our Thanksgiving

• 4 days of family vacation Fun!
• 522 mile round-trip drive
• $65 in gas money (SO MUCH CHEAPER than this time last year!)
• $126 donation to Nelson Co. Virginia Public School system (a.k.a speeding ticket!)

Not having to host, or cook Thanksgiving dinner...PRICELESS!!

Thank you Cunningham family for being so great to us. We had such a great holiday with you. Kyle can't stop talking about Casey and Natalie and all their fun tea parties. And for the first time in a long time, we didn't need a vacation from our vacation. (Thanks for not making me feel guilty for sleeping so much!) Also, thank your dear friends for cooking the turkey, it was SO nice not to have to smell that the whole day, I'm pretty sure my preggo stomach wouldn't have handled that too well! We love you, and can't wait to see you again soon!

WORTH THE WAIT!

Seriously, the MOVIE was AWESOME!! I could probably stop here, but oh no, I must go on....at least a little!

If you haven't seen the movie yet, feel free to stop now, although I don't think I'll be divulging any secrets since you've probably already read the book!

1. I know that a lot of people were skeptical abou the actor who was chosen to play Edward, he did AWESOME! And was PERFECT! At the beginning of the movie I kept thinking "man, they went a little to heavy on the lipstick and eye brows, but by the end he was DEFINITELY everything I imagined him to be! (A hottie!)
2. I think they casted the movie SO WELL, with the exception of Rosalee. I think they could have found somebody a little more "beautiful."
3. I Loved Jasper's character in the movie, he cracked me up.
4. One of my favorite scenes was when Bella walks into her science classroom and Edward "gets a whiff" of her for the first time. It was hysterical!
5. Wow, the "electricity" they created between Edward and Bella was UNBELIEVABLE!
   

And last, but certainly not least, I can say with NO DOUBT that Edward's and Bella's first kiss was HANDS DOWN, THE BEST ONSCREEN KISS EVER! You know that you agree!

Okay, that's my Twilight post. I'm sure that Scott is rolling his eyes right now, but I had to share it. Thanks again babe, for letting me go with my girl friends on opening night, we had a blast!

Are you really having a bad day?

Just be thankful that YOU didn't have to have a cavity drilled and filled today...WITHOUT NOVOCAINE. Because I did. I made it through to tell the story, but it is something I pray I never have to go through again.

Note to self: Get all tooth work done BEFORE getting pregnant.

Note to Dentist: Thanks for caring about my unborn child, I know that you wouldn't have put me though the torture if you didn't feel strongly about keeping the baby safe. Although, I am going to hold you to your promise (that you made to me while in the chair death gripping the arm-rests to try and avoid making much noise) of writing a litter to my baby telling it how tough I was during the procedure!

Note to you all having a bad day: Hey, at least somebody always has it a little rougher!

Some fun recent photos....

Some of the fun that we've had over the past few weeks...

For preschool/playgroup we got to go out to the Seeley's farm to see the animals and play with friends. Always an adventure at the Seeley farm!

Kyle got to hold a baby goat!

And milk a momma goat!

October was fire-safety month for preschool. Mrs. Rochelle was awesome and scheduled the Remmington Fire Dpt. to bring a truck out for the boys to see. The learned some fun things about fire safety, and also got to climb in the truck and see "real firefighters!"

Inside the truck!

I just wanted to post this next picture because I thought it was cute! Last week was my week to teach preschool, and one of the projects the boys did was to make pumpkin masks. They were all very proud of their creations!From left to right: K-man, Charlie, Jack-Jack (bummer, Kevin was out sick that day.)

And last, but certainly not least, for those of you who haven't already found out one way or another...

I'm 9 weeks pregnant! Due date: June 8, 2009.

I'll post halloween photos in a day or two.

A Funny Picture...

Okay, so this is a totally random post, but I am going through photos in preparation for a big scrapbook weekend and came across this awesome picture of Kyle taken June 2007 -
If I had to name this picture it would be "Ode to Grandpa's Everywhere"! (It's something about the diapers/shorts, coupled with dark socks and shoes that just cracks me up.) My poor dad has been teased on plenty more than one occasion for the folly of dark socks with shorts.

Greenfield Farm

On Saturday we met some of our friends at Greenfield Farm (a few miles south of Maddison down 29). To be honest, we didn't have very high expectations, but we ended up having a great time. It was perfect for Kyle!

The attractions included:

Corn Maze - We let Kyle be the leader most of the time and he did a surprisingly good job!
A bunch of huge rolls of hay to play on and run on top of. Kyle LOVED running on the huge hay bales. He was showing his balance beam skilz in this photo by having his arms out for balance!

There was a cute spider made of hay bales and pipe, with a slide going down its backside.

Fun concrete crawl-throughs. Kyle's a sucker for tunnels!

And fun animals to look at and see up close! There were Sheep, Turkeys, Chickens, Goats, Bunnies, and Cows.

They also had a hayride, but for whatever reason, Kyle was not interested in going on it. We think it was a combination of having too much fun playing on the Hay, and being super tired from missing his nap! Overall, it was a fun trip that Kyle really loved.

I think my favorite part was the drive. Can we say BEAUTIFUL? I LOVE Virginia in the Fall. The trees changing colors are such a beautiful sight to behold. We probably have one more weekend of such great colors. (Although we woke up to a hard-frost this morning, so it may happen a little quicker now.)

Confession Time

So...I should be totally embarrassed to admit this, but you're all my friends, right? So heres the deal. I am one of 'those' people who have been afraid of going to the dentist for WAY too long. Seriously, it has been years. There are a lot of factors that play into my 'fear'... when I was young, I had to have almost all of my baby teeth pulled, because they weren't falling out on their own. (We're talking like getting eight molars pulled at ONCE. I remember counting over 16 shots that time) I had a couple of other rough extractions as well. On top of that, the Orthodontist and I were 'tight' for like five or six years with expanding retainers and a LONG stint of braces. I think I was a little traumatized. - So now that I am older, I have had the intention to go for quite a while, knowing that I would still like to have teeth when I get OLD. But, there was always some excuse...moving and not knowing any good dentists, not knowing how much insurance would cover or what Dr.'s were in-network, etc.

Well, last week I had a wake-up call. I was flossing my teeth, and I chipped a tooth! That was all it took to send me over the edge. Obviously ones tooth is not suppose to chip while flossing, I knew it was time to see a Dentist, and to do it soon. To sum up the boring parts, I went to the dentist on Wed. for the first time in years! Yea for me! It was a personal accomplishment! (We are SO lucky to have a dentist in our area who is LDS, and who everybody recommends.) I went, I got a cavity filled, and I have an appointment for next Tuesday to get a cleaning and full check-up. Here is the best part though, he was FANTASTIC. He only had to give me ONE shot. It was the most painless cavity fix I have ever experienced. I was in and out of there in like half an hour.

I'm not so scared anymore. Here's to a good dentist!!

A Letter....

Dear Liberty High School Students,

I am sorry for calling the Fauquier County Sheriff's Department on you today. Except, not really. As concerned neighbors and mom's of the Cedar Brooke Neighborhood, we have put up with quite a bit of you. You have bent our basketball standards and destroyed our gazebo. You've made us uncomfortable to walk on the path by the baseball field and smoked 'funny things' that we can find remnants of. We're (or at least I) am done being nice to you. Seriously, couldn't you find a little bit more of an inconspicious place to play hookey from school today? Hopefully you didn't get into too much trouble, just enough to realize that people are watching in this neighborhood and are finally going to take a stand. Hopefully you can find a better place to ditch school next time.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Stay-at-home-mom

Some recent photos.

So I've totally gotten behind the game on posting photos. Below are some of the fun things we've been up to...Swimming at the WARF (Warrenton Fitness Center), Playing outside in the cul-de-sac, Cox Farms (twice in one week!). It's been a fun few weeks!

A recent sewing project...

For real...I sewed this! I still can't believe it myself! (Actually, I can't take all the credit, Lynette definitely had a hand in it too. We tackled half of it together, during a trip up to their house.)

So in most cases, I do not sew clothing. It's just not been my 'thing.' Really, I've just had some very frustrating experiences and have given up. The question is, how did I get roped into this crazy item? I'm still not quite sure of the answer! Okay, actually I was promised a new Cricut Cartridge, that'll get me every time! That, and Sara is a good sweet-talker. You see, my good friend Sara and her husband had been invited to a Jane Austen Ball, and had to go dressed in 'period' clothing. Sara's mom was making her dress and didn't have the time to make Hans' coat too. When she approached me about sewing the coat, I told her of my past experiences sewing clothing but knew she didn't have a whole lot of other options. After looking at the pattern it didn't seem too difficult, so I agreed to try it on three conditions... (1) I got to choose the material. (I had a disasterous experience earlier this year involving a prom shrug/jacket and the wrong temperature iron. NO GOOD.) (2) This was going to be a costume, so I am going to treat it like one and not stress at imperfections. (3) She had to have a back-up plan just in case things went south!

So as you can tell, it actually ended up looking like a coat! Not that I plan on taking up sewing clothes or anything (I'll stick with my cute baby and toddler accessories!), but I am dang proud at how this turned out. I honestly didn't think it could be done. Anyway, below are pictures of Sara and Hans all dolled up and ready to head out to their party. I'd say they made a dang cute couple...Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett in the flesh!

Laptop is healed!

Yea! It is times like this that I am SO thankful I married a computer guru! It is kind of a long story, but in a nutshell, I messed up the laptop last week. (It caught a virus because of my stupidity.) Well, it took a week, and a complete re-build, but we are back in action. The good news is that the bug didn't get to any of our pictures or documents, just all our programs.

A lot has happened since the computer downtime...Kyle started preschool and also a fun Tiny Tot Boot Camp, I have sewn a men's Jane Austen period style jacket, and Saturday was 'Soup'er Saturday for our ward. Life's been busy, but fun. I'll post pictures soon, once I get them downloaded on the computer. I'm just happy to have the computer back up and running.

My Secret Love Affair With...

TENNIS SHOES!! Seriously, I don't know what it is, but I love tennis shoes. Don't get me wrong, I love other shoes too (don't all self respecting women?), but I think tennis shoes truly steal my heart.

Here are the current ones you would find in my closet...As far as I can remember, they are lined up newest to oldest (left to right). The newest being my cute new Nike's purchased about a week and a half ago; the oldest being my mow-the-lawn shoes, approximately seven years and one month old!

The funny thing about my love affair with tennis shoes, is that I REFUSE to pay full price. I mean seriously, who pays $80 for a pair of shoes? Surly not me! Nope, every single one of these, (with possibly the exception of the oldest...we'll get to that) were purchased on SALE!! I'm talking less than $25. I'm the bargain hunter. What's even more odd, is that I feel like each pair has a story. I spare you all the in-betweens, but you're going to have to hear about the first and last at least.
Okay, so these are my newest pair. There isn't a huge story to these other than I have ALWAYS wanted a pair of tennis shoes with pink on them. I've secretly coveted the cute Nike springy shoes that are pink and grey and white, but they cost WAY too much, and I've never seen a pair of them on clearance for less than $40. The pair above had come close to curing my lusting! Although you may not be able to see, the Nike check is outlined in PINK. When I saw them I was pumped! I felt like I had won the shoe lottery. (Kholes is the best place to find clearance shoes.) I think these will keep me happy for a while. At least until I find the next great deal!

The shoes below, my oldest pair, have a lot of sentimental value. I'm not kidding! Just over seven years ago they were new and beautiful and white, just like my wedding dress!! With Scott being SO much taller than me, and my dress covering up my feet, I wore these under my wedding dress! Seriously, aside from roasting from the inside-out while taking pictures on the hottest day of the year (not exaggerating, it really was!), I was by far the most comfortable bride that day. My feet didn't get sore at all. That's saying a lot for such a long day.
They are great shoes, and I love how comfortable they fit, so they've become my lawn-mowing-shoes.

So I realize this is like the wierdest post ever, but after I finished mowing the lawn today I sat down to take a breather and looked at my shoes. They brought back memories of my wedding day. Then I started thinking about all my other tennis shoes, and the fun memories I have with each of them. It's funny what can make us start reminiscing. I'm thankful for all my shoes and all the awesome memories associated with them!

When it rains...

It POURS!! Literally! We weathered quite the storm this past weekend. (no pun intended, okay, maybe a little) It rained, and rained, and rained. The tail end of the hurricane. While we LOVE rain, because then it means we don't have to pay Fauquier Co. (yep! that's really the name of the county we live in!) an astronomical amount to water our lawn, it also means being cooped up in the house. Honestly, what is better when you are house bound than a yummy treat? Nothing! (Well, almost nothing, but this is a 'G' rated blog! ;)

I made this...
It is a super yummy cobbler. A lady in our ward, Sis. Seeley, is famous for her cobbler. She shared her easy recipe with us a while back. Here it is...

Seeley Peach Cobbler
2 sticks of butter melted in bottom of a 9x13 dish.
1 large can of peaches drained and peaches poured on top of butter.
Mix together 2 cups sugar, 2 cups flower, 2 cups milk, and 2 tsp. baking powder.
Pour over peaches and butter.
Bake at 350 until golden brown. About 45 min to 1 hour. ENJOY!
*Any fruit can be substituted in, if using fresh fruit add a little bit of sugar to the fruit.

Okay, so since it was raining, I didn't want to go out, but I didn't have any peaches on hand. I substituted a large can of mandarin oranges and a can of blackberry pie filling. It was scrumptious!

Now that fall is on the way, and there are a lot of rainy, blah days ahead of us, give the cobbler a try, it's great!

All The Trend is ONLINE!!!

Well, we've FINALLY done it! (Well, kind of!) We have been telling everyone for so long that our website is "under construction" and "almost complete", because we thought that was the case. Alas, tis not the case, but we've taken other measures!! For the time being, Lynette and I have opened an ETSY store. Check us out at...

www.allthetrend.etsy.com

Most of you are aware that my friend Lynette and I have been dabbling in our little sewing business for a few years now. We started as being a vendor in a few craft fairs here and there, then seeking more craft fairs, selling to friends and family (word of mouth...thank you to everyone who has been such great customers already), and are currently working on getting our OWN website. For now, we've set up temporary shop at ETSY, and are very excited! We've already posted a lot of our stuff, but we are adding new things daily.

If you like what you see, or have gotten any of our stuff in the past and have been satisfied, please forward our site on to your friends and family. Word of mouth marketing is usually the best! Thank you all for your ongoing support of Lynette and I.

Seriously!

Okay, so I have to give an explanation about some of my comments on my past few blogs. While I was in Utah, my friend told me about this hilarious website/blog... http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com. It is a satirical blog that is absolutely hilarious, and has gained a CRAZY amount of followers. (I'll admit, I've become one now!) It is so popular that it made the KSL news in Utah today. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4108250 - I'm telling you ladies, for those of you who haven't checked this out, it is so stinkin' funny. Beware though, once you read it once, you are sure to become hooked!

Home Sweet Home!

Aaahhhh. I don't think there is anything more welcoming than coming home from a long vacation and plopping down on your own bed. BLISS!

We had such a great vacation in Utah. I think this was the most fun-filled, busy trip that we've made back home. I don't think a day went by that we didn't have something to do. (Which sounds exhausting, and it was a little, but oh so much fun!) We got to see and spend time with so many people.

The trip started off with a Pugmire Family Reunion. It was AWESOME. Scott comes from a family of five children. Only two of them have stayed in Utah, so we don't all get to see each other that often. His parents hosted the shin-dig up in Fairview, UT, and all the siblings (their spouses, and children), made the trek. When we all get together, its a pretty huge group...18 grandchildren under the age of 17, and 12 adults. We had a lot of fun playing golf, swimming, playing board games, reminiscing, and playing our own crude version of handballtennissuperball. We even managed to get the whole group together for family pictures (quite an ordeal.) All in all, it was good fun.

One and a half days to recuperate, and then it was off to Lake Powell with my family. The trip to Powell ended up only be Scott, Kyle and I, my parents, and Tom, but it was a blast! We found the perfect location up Mokie Canyon to park the houseboat, and swam, wake-surfed, wake-boarded, and tubed to our hearts content. The weather was great, and the water temperature PERFECT!

The day after returning from Lake Powell, my big bro, Mike, was commissioned as an officer in the US Navy. That day was also coincidentally Scott's and my 7th Anniversary. Our cousins from San Jose, California made the 12 hour drive to support Mike and see the family. It was so much fun to see My Aunt Donna, Kym and her baby Audrey, and Becky. It's been since before I was married that I've seen Kym and Becky. We had a great time catching up and enjoying each others company.

I got to see so many of my friends while I was home this time. It was really the icing on the cake! My childhood and forever best friend, Jamie, has been living in Oregon for the past few years, but has moved back to Utah and settled in Lehi. I LOVE that I can see her and her family when I come home now. We had fun catching up. Kyle and Brynlee played really well together (well, except for the orange juice incident...sorry Jamie!). And I got to meet her beautiful new baby girl, Capri, born on July 10th. - I also caught up with my good friend from middle/high school, Alisha Butterfield. We haven't seen each other since I was home for my baby shower for Kyle. - And last, but certainly not least, we got together with a couple of our friends from our townhouse era at Brittany in West Jordan. Holy smokes it was 'seriously so' much fun to see you all! The Elsassers, organized the get-together, THANK YOU, and the Malmburg's and Adam's came too. It was so much fun to see everyone. It's been five or six years since we've seen them. We now all have children and "real" jobs! Hopefully it won't be so long before our next get together.

The trip to Utah was the perfect way to end a great summer. I'm glad we got to see so many of our family and friends and do so many fun things. (When Scott gets home with the lap-top I'll be sure to post photos.)

I'm glad to be home in my own bed.

Oops!

Okay, so I am apparently challenged. I was trying to add the map below as an element to my page, but ended up just adding it as a post. Will somebody who has added one of these to their blogs have mercy on me and tell me how to do this? Thanks!

Signed, Inept Blogger

Visitors!

Create your own visitor map!

Proud Wife and Little Sister

Okay, so I am kind of feeling like a hypocrite right now. Just last night I was having a conversation with some of my friends and we were talking about how much it buggs when people just brag non-stop on their blogs about their great lives. (a bragspot instead of a blogspot!) This is kind of one of those posts, sorry ladies!! :)

First of all, Scott and I celebrated our 7th anniversary this past weekend. Yea for us! I am 'seriously so blessed' to have such a fantastic husband. He is so good to me. My life since marrying Scott has been more than I could have ever imagined. Thank you Scott, for putting up with my antics, being my best friend, worthy priesthood holder, and eternal companion. I love you!

Scott wake-surfing at Lake Powell last weekend

Now on to the proud little sister part. Both of my big brothers are pretty awesome, and for very different reasons. My oldest brother, Mike, has always been a good example to me. When we were growing up, he was my protector. I have always looked up to him for lots of reasons. Anyway, about three years ago, he joined the Navy Reserves. On Sunday he was commissioned as on officer. The ceremony was awesome and I really am proud of him.

My brother Mike (on the left) being sworn in as an officer in the US Navy

Last but not least...The video below is pretty self explanatory. My big brother Tom has always been the one in the family who could do anything he set his mind too. He has no fear and is crazy athletic, especially when it comes to extreme sports. From motocross motorcycles, to snow skiing and snowboarding, extreme snowmobiling to mountain biking, and water skiing to wake surfing and wake boarding; he can do them all, and can do them all EXTREMELY well. (It has often times been frustrating to Mike and I how good he is at everything.) Anyway, I caught some of his wake boarding on video this last weekend while we were at Lake Powell and have to share.

Tom showin' off some of his skilz!

Ouch!

One little boy
Swarmed with angry hornets
Six stings
Thankfully he's okay

K-man was outside on his Grandma and Grandpa's deck and sat down on a step. Unfortunately no one knew there was two hornets nests. They did not like him invading their space. He got stung six times, poor kid. Three on his right hand, one on the bridge of his nose, one on the back of his shoulder, and one on his leg. We were SO LUCKY he didn't have an allergic reaction, because it could have been BAD. He was such a little trooper though, he cried for about half an hour and then calmed down and chilled on the couch for another 45 minutes or so trying to relax. He's one tough cookie. Needless to say, he is now afraid of ALL bugs. Hopefully we can get him over that.

Mormon mommy montra...

So much to do, so little time!

I really think that should be our motto.

Okay, now I have that out of my system...We are leaving in three hours, and I can't wait!! Road trip to NY baby. I still have a ton of things to do before heading out, so I really shouldn't be blogging, but I needed to take a breather and relax for a minute. That, and Kyle was in desperate need of his Little Einstines fix. (Yep, I'll admit it, I'm letting the TV babysit my child for the next twenty-five minutes.)

Although this weekend involves a ton of driving, we are pumped. We're driving today up to Rochester, NY, where "home base" will be. Tomorrow will be spent in Palmyra, NY, seeing church historical sites and the famed Hill Comorah Pageant. Saturday will be a fun filled day on the US/Canadian border exploring Niagara Falls. Sunday will complete the whirlwind weekend with driving back to VA. We're going up with two of our great friends, the Loveridge Family (Lynette's parents, bless their hearts, are hosting us all at their home), and the Christensen Family. Hopefully good times await!

Okay, I've got to get back to packing and cleaning, wish us luck and safe driving!

Grandma Sandy's Visit

Thank you SO much mom for coming to visit. We always love to have you here.

My mom was in town from June 26th through July 11th. She was here for all of our birthdays as well as the Independence Day activities. I love it when my mom comes to visit. We talk and laugh and work together so well. She is always a help around the house, and did dishes the whole time she was here. IT WAS AWESOME!! Such a treat for me. - We didn't really "do anything" while she was here, and yet we had a blast. Our time was filled with morning walks, birthday parties, a 4th of July BBQ, shopping, sewing, speed scrabble, and puzzles. PERFECT! She is so easy going and just fits right in while she's here. A nice addition to the family for a few weeks.

Below are some fun pictures from her visit...

4th of July - Waterslide Fun!

Playing 'Space Shuttle' w/ Kyle (I'll explain another time!)

Kyle's comforter during fireworks. (He's a little daredevil and afraid of very little, but the fireworks scare him to death. Go figure!!)

Playin' with play-dough!

Great Read...

Lynette let me borrow this book to read. She gushed about it and told everyone she knows how much she enjoyed it. (Which is saying a lot for Lynette because she's not much of a reader!) Wow! She wasn't kidding. What an amazing, almost unbelievable story. Yet it is TRUE.

Some of you may remember this story in the news. It happened back in April of 2006. There was a van from Taylor University (a Christian college) that was hit on the freeway. Five students were killed instantly, one survived, three staff members also lived. The identity of the two girls this story was about was accidentally switched at the scene of the accident. (One girl's purse was next to the other girl 50 feet from the van and they were enough alike in coloring, and build that she was positively identified with the wrong ID.) So to make a long story short, one family buried their daughter while another family took care of an attended to their daughter struggling for life and in a coma in an ICU. After five weeks and the living girl starting to recover it is discovered that she is actually the daughter of the other family, and the family taking care of the girl in the hospital had actually lost their daughter in the accident. It sounds totally unbelievable that the identity of the girl in the hospital wasn't discovered any sooner, but because of the accident her face was swollen, she was in a coma for weeks, and the two girls had so many of the same traits. Also, the family who ended up burying the "wrong daughter" had not identified the body because staff members from the college had done so and they did not want those haunting memories of seeing "their daughter" that way.

So that is the story, in a nutshell. What is amazing and inspiring about reading the book is how much these two families relied on God and Jesus Christ for comfort through their ordeals. Their faith in the Lord carried these two families through the whole ordeal. I would recommend this book to everyone who can get their hands on it. I'll probably be getting it for a handful of my relatives for christmas this year. It is THAT inspirational.

Anyway, thanks Lynette, for giving me the opportunity to read this book. Even though these families were not LDS, they believe in God and Jesus Christ, the Atonment, and life after death. My faith has been given a boost and I have been totally uplifted by reading this book.

Slave Labor...???

I'm not sure weather to call this slave labor, or future blackmail! Currently Kyle LOVES to help me with the laundry. "I be a big big helper mommy! I do da yandry." I had to catch the moment on camera for future reference. He actually put this whole huge load of whites into the washer all by himself. (It was no small feat, he was stuffin'!) He gets away most of the time without even cleaning up his own toys (I'm not patient enough), so when he asks to help me with the laundry I figure this is one habit that I'd love to foster.

He said something that was super hilarious while loading the washer that I just have to share. Although I should probably be embarrassed to share, it is no secret, so hopefully you can get a laugh out of it like I did. He loads the washer piece by piece of clothing, one of the items he picked out of the basket was a over the shoulder boulder holder. Without missing a beat he said absentmindindly to himself, but out loud..."woah! its a big one"... and then proceeded to add it to the machine and move on. It was funny, because I haden't heard him make a comment about any of the other items of laundry.

The "Fruit" of my labor!

Hooray!! Today I harvested my first Cherry Tomato of the season! These plants have seriously become my babies. I started four tomato plants from seed back in March, and they are actually growing! The bushes are full of little green tomatoes. I can't wait to eat more. (My mom and I promptly rinsed this one off, split it in two, and enjoyed out little fruit.) I can't wait until we get a fence up and can put in a whole garden!

Summer Fun!

So the slide show below isn't from Kyle's party on Saturday, but from the previous Saturday. I haven't downloaded the pictures from the party yet. His party was pretty much a duplicate from the previous Saturday, except there were a lot more little kids. I'll post pictures from K-man's birthday party in the next day or two.

Anyway, we decided to beat the heat this summer with a fun big water slide. It's quite the hit in the neighborhood! Fun for kids and adults.