So Excited

My Princess just said to me "Mommy can I please go to bed? I just love Halloween so much that I want to be there on time."

Dear Hubby,

There has been so many things that you have done for us over the past 10 years that we have been together that have been amazing! Unfortunately some of the awesome things have not been appreciated to it's fullness. Kind of like how you mow the lawn EVERY SINGLE TIME so I don't have to get all sweaty and gross. Or like how you worry about keeping the cars clean and how you are always fixing my electronic problems. (my ipod needs to be fixed by the way)

Well that is why I am here today. To thank you with all my heart for taking the problem of neither one of us ever wanting to do the dishes and hand off the responsibility to the oldest child. Now neither one of us have to bother with it! SWEET!

Bored Here?

For those of you that are bored with my writings here you can check out my photography blog. I have had some great shoots lately and I have been showing them off there.

Check it out!

Lasting Moments Photography

Inspiration

It is true when someone says that you can find inspiration everywhere!

I found it on a pair of jeans.

I got a gift certificate for my birthday and I really needed some new jeans. When I got home the tag had a little quote on it that I thought was pretty cool.

"This is your life put all of your energy into it and show off your intelligence to the world. You are unique and beautiful."

It is nice to know that in this crazy world you can be told by a pair of jeans that you are beautiful. I don't know about you, but for me trying on jeans makes me feel NOT so beautiful.

It's a pretty cool quote though! Thanks Jeans for warming my spirits today.

How did she know?

I guess my hubby overheard the Princess telling her big brother "You better watch out. You mess up one more time and mom and dad are going to sell you."


Did I say it out loud? I thought I was just thinking it.

My cousin and her awesome family.

This is my cousin Marianne and I. I have always been very close to her and her family. In fact when Marianne and I were younger, people used to think that we were twins. We are the same age, we look lots alike and we were always together. Since we have gotten older we don't look as much alike, but our grandma still has a hard time telling us apart when we call. (Hi Grandma! You know that I have the same problem too! She sounds just like me!)

The cool thing about Marianne is that she has this awesome gift. She knows me. When I have had a moment that I needed to talk to someone any time in my life she just shows up and she is there. We can even go SO long without talking and in a moment of my weakness there she is. The other day I was feeling really down, sick, tired, stressed, overwhelmed and just down right sorry for myself and there she was. I am grateful for her and her friendship that we have shared our entire lives.

As I said before I feel pretty close to her entire family. Her older sister Susan has always been there for me too! I remember a time when she came to visit me shortly after I moved into my apartment in High School. She came to visit when I felt so shut out from everyone else. That visit meant so much to me. She also watched my kids for me when I went to girl's camp!

Then there is my Aunt and Uncle. I can't name all the times they have been there for us! There are just so MANY! Can you believe that when my hubby and I were in desperate need of a car one time and had no money to speak of they GAVE us a car! Really they are so giving! Just the other day my Aunt sent me a box of Ziploc bags just so we can freeze some peaches.

Everyone in this family are great examples of being Christ-like! I am in debt to them. I can't say thank you enough. I just hope I can be just as awesome someday!

My Yearbook Pictures

Have you ever been cleaning out a closet and you find your old box of pictures? Well I did the other day and I just thought it would be fun to scan some and share them with you.

Here is my picture from 1952

Here is 1966. Don't I look great?

1976

In 1986 I thought I would go a little drastic with the hair.

In 1994 I decided I needed to go back to blond, long and poofy.
Again changing things up with the hair in 1996.
1998 Graduation year! I look so young!

Ok wasn't that fun? I challenge all of you to post your old pictures too! You might want to go here first though.

Memories

I talked to Kaycie, my sister-in-law a little last night again. I miss her! I miss her family! I miss Houston! This Saturday is her birthday and I want nothing more to hop on a plane and come see her. Unfortunately I can't, but I did get out some of my pictures from my visit so I could sit back and remember seeing them in April.

I had almost forgotten that I let all the kids do my hair and makeup after we got back from the beach. When I saw this picture I had to laugh! I love those kids! They keep growing too fast and I feel like I am missing so much of their lives! This moment is one that was so special to me (even if it took FOREVER to get the makeup off). I hope to see them soon, whether it be for Christmas or maybe next summer. But until then I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Mid-Size Mommy

While doing the Princess' hair this morning she was making up songs. I thought I would share the names of a few....lyrics included.

song #1

"I am Scared of Mommy" it went a little something like this... I don't know why she thinks she's an adult. I don't know why she makes me go everywhere with her. I don't know why she trys to be a teenager.....as so on and so on.

song #2

"Mid-Size Mommy" this one could be a hit with words like "I don't know why she thinks she's a fry. I don't know why. I don't know why she like the frys. I don't know why"

Anyone else think I should be a little worried?

Spotted Owl Soap

I have been trying this new soap for a few weeks now and I LOVE IT! I feel that it is my duty to share the love to all my fellow blogging friends.

The Spotted Owl Soap is just AWESOME! My skin feels super soft and they have the most wonderful scents! The best part is that it is all natural! They are just starting up and are looking for people to test it all out! You get free stuff and it TOTALLY pays off!

So trust me when I say that bathing with the Choconilla Soap is almost as close to taking a bath in chocolate pudding....almost! I dare you to go try it out!

www.spottedowlsoap.com

My 5 Goals to help my life be easier.

Last year about this same time I posted a list of goals that I has for myself. Working on these goals didn't go over well. I was really frustrated with so many things that I tried to tackle too many things at once. The goals I listed where big things. Things that would take awhile to do. Those goals were/are important yes, but it just wasn't going to work for me.

I have more goals to post today. These goals are hopefully ones that are just going to make my life easier. They are things that I should be doing anyway, and I do...some days. The point is, I want to get my life back in clean working order again. I think that by having these goals to do them every day is going to help. I hope they do and I promise to myself that I will not be hard on myself if I don't do them.

My hubby always says " To set a goal and not achieve it is not being a failure. But to not set goals in the first place is being failure."

So here we go. The 5 things that are going to make my life easier.

#1 I have been super tired lately. No energy to speak of. Yes, I am sick, but I still think that I need to work on getting to bed earlier and waking up earlier. With the amount of stress in my life I think that I need all the rest that I can get.

#2 I need to be more prepared. Specifically, in the mornings. It has become a nasty habit to not shower until after the kids go to school. Our morning are crazy, no one wants to be awake. (see why #1 is important) I need to be a better example with being ready before I wake up the kids. Prepare them a better breakfast too. I think this will help me to feel like I have more time in the days.

#3 I want to actually do my "Brain Box". This is Marie Ricks', from the house of order, idea on getting house work done. It is a box that I made that goes by the days of the week, and instead of thinking everyday about what I should get done, it tell me what I need to do. I am really tired of living in chaos and everything is always a mess.

#4 I want to be better about being more spiritual. Weekly family home evening, daily scripture study, and morning and nightly prayers. This will help with every aspect of my life.

#5 Patience. I really need to work on this. It will help when playing with the kids, with homework, with life. I need to focus on the bright and happy, let go of the petty and annoying.

With taking it day by day I really think this is going to work. I will report as often as I can so I can share my success.

What are your goals for this new season?

Short Updates

~ The Hubby and I have been sick. Now Little Man has it. He sounds crappy and am really worried about him. I wish that I had insurance.

~Little Dude can now read some words. I can't believe it!

~The Princess can also read those some words. It pays off to have family homework time.

~The dryer broke. We are SUPER blessed that it didn't cost a dime to fix it.

~I have booked a few more pictures sessions....again another HUGE blessing.

~I loved conference this last weekend. I cried through the entire first session. Then I toughened up for the rest. Good thing, I was starting to think I was crazy.

~The weather is getting colder and I find myself missing the warmer weather. Is it me or was summer not as long this year?

~The Hubby still doesn't have a job.....please keep praying for him!

He May be an Air Head....

But he makes me laugh all day long!

The sky looked so beautiful the other day. I had my camera in hand taking pictures of the Little Man and his obsession with hats (that post is coming soon!) and I shot this picture of Little Dude. I loved the sky, and the crazy face!

I had to share it to make everyone laugh....it's Monday you know, and everyone needs a good laugh on a Monday.

The Crazy Cluckers

I know everyone has been dying to know more info on our cluckers. (ha ha ha) Well let me introduce to you our new breakfast.....and dinner eventually.....maybe.

Anyway, here is Jane. At first we were told that her name was Jane Doe. We decided to just shorten it to Jane. Well, then Little Dude decided that she needed to be called Power Ranger Jane. So here she is. She is the only one right now that produces eggs. She will come up to you when you walk in the back yard, but is a little bit of a hog, when I give her treats.

Here is Mini. Her name we just Mini, but Little Princess decided that she needed to be a Princess too. So she is now Princess Mini. She is just little. She likes to follow the cat all over the back yard. She also likes to get out of her coop, luckily she can't get out of the greenhouse.
Being a chicken owner is very entertaining really. We watched Power Ranger Jane eat a praying mantis the other day and my boys (daddy mostly) were thrilled!

Thanks again Holly and Marisa! I never thought we would have chickens wandering around. We enjoy them though.

And the neighbors are pretty understanding too....which helps.

Lisa This is for you

Years and Years ago (I think I was 13) I went to a girl's camp for church. Oakcrest wasn't just any old girl's camp though, it was one where girls from all over the valley came to at the same time. I was not really that happy to be there, but surprisingly I met two of my very best friends there that I am still in contact with to this day.

Lisa was one of these girls that I met and the story how we met is just funny to me, so I thought I would share it today in light of it being her birthday! She takes her birthday very seriously and quite honestly so do I. In all the year that I have known her she has called me on my birthday (except once, but we won't rehash that one. K Lisa?) In return I try not to forget calling her. So today here is my Birthday shout out via the world wide web.

The story how we met:

We were allowed one day to shower at Oakcrest Camp out of the entire week we were there. I was in the bathroom brushing my hair and teeth after my much needed shower and the girl next to me started to chit chat. I had no idea who she was but she was really friendly so we stayed and chatted for a bit. We were both getting ready to start our 8th grade year of Junior High, but she had just moved and was going to start at a new school. When I asked her what school she was going to I told her that was the same school I went to. We talked for a bit longer (I guess it wasn't all that long of a conversation, maybe 15 minutes) but when it was time to go she said "find me on the first day of school." That was it. I didn't see her or talk to her the rest of camp. We didn't exchange any way to keep in contact so I didn't think much about her.

That was until school started. I sat down to one of my classes and there she was. I went up and talked to her and really that was it. We have been great friends ever since. Lisa and I were destined to be friends! I know that for a fact. We have been through so much in life together, mostly her, but she has been there for me through every hard time I have ever faced! I am grateful for her strength and for all that she stands for! She really is an amazing person!

Happy Birthday Lisa! I hope that your day is an awesome one!

Oh and just a fun fact about Lisa and I.....The boy that Lisa kissed for the first time was the same boy I first kissed. Crazy!

Anyway, Have a Happy Birthday!