The Rest of September...

I really need to post pictures as I take them. I am going to work on that...I am also going to remember to load the pictures from the bottom up so they don't come out backwards! Here is the rest of September...backwards!

"Wacky Wednesday" is the last Wednesday of the month at Jake's school. Basically that means breakfast for lunch! I took the girls today to eat "wacky" with Jake. This is as we were leaving.

Jake and Bella

Bella's famous picture "smile"!

Jake and Sophia

Jake's classmate, Jake, took this of us. There are 2 Jake's and 1 Jacob in his class. It is strange that they all ended up in one class. There are 4, 3rd grade classes-you think they would spread them around!

Aaron was in charge of the treat for Family Home Evening. M&M popsicles!

Jake's open house at school was last night and I forgot my camera! I took this picture when we got home. We were asked to send in an outfit and when we got to Jake's classroom-there he was sitting in his chair! Very cute idea!

Jake and Bella playing with Play Dooh

The ice cream truck that came many times over the summer. We decided to get it one more time before we moved for the memories. This is the same night Aaron came home with the M&M popsicles. I bet the whole box cost less than 2 things from the ice cream truck. It is expensive!

We are packing and it is so fun!...I love it when the house looks like this...Actually it totally DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!

We packed the garage on Saturday. Aaron found an old pair of safety/sunglasses and gave them to Jake. Nice look for you Jake!

Emily was actually sleeping like this as I was on the computer. I woke her up when I got the camera. How is that comfortable? She is actually sleeping about 3 feet a way right now with her tongue sticking out...

Jake and Bella. They really are great friends...

Jake packing himself! There is no chance we would forget him!

A couple attempts at a picture of the 3 amigos.


Jake is a great helper and Sophia loves him!

Week Two Results

The week two curse was nonexistent on the Biggest Loser Ranch last week. Combined they lost over 150 pounds! I guess I shouldn't have started with that...It makes my 2 POUNDS (!!!!!) seem small. I just passed the mental hurdle that is week two. I am very happy with 2. It is actually my favorite number! Larry Johnson's (my favorite basketball player-he is retired, but he was a Charlotte Hornet, back in the day) number was 2. It is week 2 and I lost 2 pounds. If I lose 2 pounds a week for the rest of the year I would have lost a total of 31 pounds. I am not a big fan of odd numbers, so lets make is 30. So I think that is my goal for the year...Dare I say that out loud? (or type it...) AAAHHHH! Setting goals for me is like jinxing myself. Self sabotage usually sets in very quickly after I make a goal like that. But that is just another mental hurdle I will have to jump over! I am 7 pounds into my 30 pounds by New Years Eve goal. Not bad! I can do this.

Oh and by the way-new record on Advance Step (I actually hold all 10 top spots now), the one were you hit the soccer balls with your head, and Advance Hula Hoop on our Wii Fit. BOOYAH Aaron! You know you can't touch my Step record...

A few projects I have done this year

A friend of mine inspires me every time I go to her blog because of her talents! She is exactly what HGTV looks for in their designers and I love it when she posts updates on her latest projects. She can take a plain dress and turn it into the latest fashion. She can completely change the look of a room on a tight budget. Seeing her latest project motivated me to share some of the little art projects I have done too. I am not a professional in any way, shape, or form, but I do enjoy to paint on occasion. I am more of a copy cat than an artist. I am not a perfectionist so don't judge me to harshly! If I can do it any one can! You should try to paint-you might realize a wonderful new stress reliever!

Keep in mind I broke my wonderful camera a few months ago and I am working with a sad one right now...The light is horrible! I have one I will post later because the picture just didn't come out!

Jake's bathroom is pretty small so we didn't want to darken the walls at all and I wanted something easy to clean. So we painted the walls glossy white and brought in the color with this awesome shower curtain and painting that Jake and I did. (I will post a picture of his bathroom sometime soon, I can't find them on the computer right now) I just drew the same style rocket ship on the canvas as there is on the shower curtain and Jake decided on the colors and background. I loved how creative Jake got with the fire from the space ship blasting off!


I love Southern Living at Home and have several of the Gail Pittman hand painted pottery pieces. It is pretty expensive so I hosted a party and got it all for free, except for one piece my mom bought me for Christmas. It makes me happy to just look at it! So happy, that I pretty much decorated my house so I could have it in all the living areas! I needed a large piece to bring it all together for when we put the house on the market so I decided to paint a large canvas with the same pattern. I would never copy an artist and sell it, but I have no problem doing it for myself! (I have the bowl and pitcher too!)


Another friend of mine is the Activity Day Girls Leader and she was having the girls make bean bags to give to the nursery at church. She asked me to paint a clown on a piece of plywood that was to be the thing you toss the bean bags through. The holes were put in the balloon, hat, and the clown nose (that is why I didn't paint that part in that great-a lot of it was going to be cut out any way).

You should try to paint something! It is easy, fun, and an amazing stress reliever Try it you might like it!..And you might surprise yourself with a new talent you can share!

Rain, rain, go away!

Luckily it seems to have given up a break and it is a beautiful day!!! I mentioned that is has been raining like crazy for the past week and a half and the pictures below are what we woke up to today. We live right across the street from Tap Root Dairy Farm and I love to see the cows! The smell we get on occassion, not so much. But any way,they have two very large fields on either side of the road our neighborhood is off. These field are now lakes! The road was partially covered yesterday now it is under water. Our two minute drive to school is now an almost 20 minute drive!

Bella and Sophia waiting patiently as I took a few quick pictures!


See how the road reappears? Right up that hill is Jake's school.


Our nice new lake!


The news happened to be leaving when I got there.

I wonder how long the road will be closed...And wouldn't you know that today was picture day and I forgot to put the form and check in Jake's folder! Luckily I realized that before making it all the way back home!

Aaron is 33!

We celebrated Aaron's birthday on Friday night even though his birthday wasn't until Saturday because we were headed to Columbia to go to the temple for his cousins sealing. He liked Jake's cookie cake so much we got one for him too. Unfortunately we forgot to tell him happy birthday that Saturday morning...My excuse is that I had to get up at 6:15, on my only day I have to sleep in and my brain wasn't functioning. Not that any excuse is a good one...Sorry Aaron! We love you!

The Fair

We didn't make it to the fair last year so I promised Jake we would go this year. Luckily we picked a day that the rain held off in the evening and we had a lot of fun! It was an interesting this year because Jake was too tall for some of the kiddie rides, but to short for lots of the adult rides. We did get to go on 2 big rides together and had a blast. One went upside down (a first for Jake) and the other is that ride that looks like bob sleds that plays really loud music and you go really fast forward and then backwards in a circle. I think every fair has one! Daddy missed out on the fun so he could enjoy one of his last weeks playing basketball.

This one is so attractive of me...We have a tradition that we always take the pictures were you hold the camera out. Some come out better than others...


This was a fun one that Jake went on twice. He is on the right side of the picture.


Those of you who know me well can probably guess what I did right after Jake got off this ride. I used hand sanitizer on his chin (and hands)! Can you imagine the amount to germs on that thing?

We meet up with our friends the Vanderhoof's. Here is Jake with Kaili (she was in Jake's 1st grade class and this year they are back together) and Kaci on one of the rides.


The first ride Jake went on! (these pictures aren't in order)


This is the ride Jake and I went on that went upside down. It was awesome!

Week One Results

Well, I did not exercise nearly as much as I had hoped I would and I wasn't perfect in my eating...Between babysitting, the beginning of a head cold, trying to pack, homework, getting together with family for a cook out, and life in general-I worried what the scale would say. BUT I STILL LOST 5 POUNDS!!!!! I am a relieved! Now on to the dreaded week two. On the show people have a harder time and so do I! Usually the first week of a diet I lose a lot and then that is it for results because my hormones kick in and put on the breaks. So right now I am happy with 5 pounds. This week is the big push!

Thank you all for your support and tips! Aaron kept reminding me that people would be checking in so I better get to exercising. By the way Aaron lost 2 pounds. Not that this is a competition...BUT I WON WEEK ONE!!! Just kidding (kind of...) He will reach his goal (I have way more to lose) way before I do though so I better not talk too much trash!

I am going to really kick it in to high gear this week. I am hoping the rain will slow down enough that I can put some miles in. So is poor Emily! A week of rain is cramping our walk schedule. Today we are walking 2 miles in the rain if we have to! I am also going to do Wii Fit at least 30 minutes a day. I did it last night and the time flies. I love the step aerobics and hula hoop. Who knew a video game could get your heart rate up so much! I love it! I am working on knocking everyone in my family out of the top 10 on advance step. I think Aaron still holds 5th place and maybe another spot. Not for long...

I will be "The Biggest Loser"!

Well, at home contestant at least! I love the show "The Biggest Loser" and the new season starts tonight at 8:00 on NBC! I am sure you are wondering why in the world I am talking about it! It is because I am starting my own "Biggest Loser". I am going to weigh in every Tuesday morning and I am going to post how much I have lost. Which means I need your help and encouragement! I need to lose this weight and I can't do it on my own. I need some feed back and any tips you have. I know what I need to do and what I need to eat (and not eat). I just need some moral support! I have Wii Fit, The Firm, Biggest Loser videos, Kathy Smith videos, and Windsor Pilate's. I even have a video that McDonald's put out a couple of years ago (it was like an adult happy meal except salad instead of a burger and water instead of soda). I have Dr. Phil's book, Body for life, Oprah and Bob Green's Best Life book, South Beach (Melissa that is yours and I will return it I swear!). I have done Weight Watcher's (it works by the way, but my crazy hormones like to sabotage my efforts leading to discouragement..and failure) and Low carb (which also works but only while you do it strictly and who can really eat like that forever..or longer than 2 or 3 weeks!). Another words I have done it all. I have very out of whack hormones (PCOS) fighting against me, which inevitably leads to failure. But this time I will have my friends and family to help me! Right? Please!!! I am not afraid to beg people-PLEASE SAY YOU WILL HELP!!! :) This time it is public. Not that you all didn't know I need to lose weight, you just didn't know how hard I was (or was not) working. I am doing it this time. No excuses. So what if my hormones will hold me back and my will power may fail. I will not stop this time. I will do it. I have to. So, a little help again my friends, would be just what I need to get it right this time. Look for my first week results next Tuesday! (Aaron you are doing it with me right?)

8 years ago today...

..Jake was two weeks old and I thought the world was crashing in around our little family. I remember it like it was yesterday! It was the first day Jake was fussy and I am sure it is because I spent the day in tears and couldn't keep my eyes off the TV. I remember I was on the way to the bank when I heard on the radio that a plane had hit the first tower. I called my mom and she turned on the news. When I got to the bank I sat down to do something about my 401k, my mom called me and said that a second plane had hit the other tower so now they knew it was terrorist attack. I was shocked and told the lady that was helping me what was happening and she was like "oh, okay." That was it! I wanted to yell at her "No it is not okay lady! Did you hear what I just said!!!" I left and went right home hoping to hear better news. From the moment I got home and for the rest of that day and most of the night, I rarely took my eyes off the TV screen. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Aaron worked near downtown Charlotte and I was worried that with all the bank headquarters that are located there, that something could happen there too. My mom came over just so we wouldn't have to watch it all alone. My mother-in-law called me and told me we could come down there to Spartanburg to get a way from the city if we felt like we needed too. My Dad (who is a pilot) was stuck in Canada because all air traffic was grounded. I remember watching the towers fall one at a time and I wept as I wondered how many people lost their mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers. I was mad to hear that the Pentagon was hit too. I was sick to my stomach as I thought what those poor people on flight 93 had to do to make sure their plane didn't kill more people than it had too. What courage they had to have had to get through those moments of complete terror. I remember President Bushes face as he was sitting in a inner city school when he got the news that our country was under attack. I couldn't help but watch Fox News this morning as they recapped some of the most major events of that day. I do every year and I will as long as they show it. I don't want to ever forget how I felt that day. I am so proud to be an American and no matter what happens that will never change. I am thankful that President Bush worked hard to keep us all protected and I pray that President Obama does the same. I am thankful to our Troops, Homeland Security, Firefighters, and Police officers that put their lives in danger so we don't have to. We are safe because of them and I pray for them daily. Jake went to school on this Patriot Day with his flag shirt on knowing what a significant day this is and wanting to be a part of remembering those who died as well as those who lived. We talk about it every year and we always will. Eight years ago today my sweet boy was two weeks old and I wondered what this scary world would hold for him. It is still scary and I still worry. But when I look in Jake's eyes and imagine his future I can't help but feel hope and peace. His future is bright and we are lucky to live in the greatest country on the planet.

An August catch up!

This is another one of those posts for my benefit! I have some pictures from August that I forgot to post so here they are all together!

Bella (one of the sweet little girls we babysit and have been since she was 6 or 8 weeks old) turned 2 on August 14th and we threw her a little party to surprise her. This is Jake hiding under our desk to jump out and surprise her as she was coming to the door.


Bella loved the balloons! I told Jake we didn't have to buy her a gift, the balloons were enough for her!


She loves to play with the Fisher Price Little People we still have from when Jake was a toddler, so we got her one that was a Princess with a horse and carriage. She loved it! Jake had to open it for her because she wasn't really sure what to do.

Bella, Jake, and Sophia with the birthday frosted brownies (I thought I had a cake mix but all I had was a brownie mix)! Poor Sophia watched them like a hawk wishing she could eat some!


Jake spent a week in August with my mom and dad (I need pictures from that Mom!) and while he was there he saw a bowl I made when I was his age with roses on it. He decided to make it and this is how it came out!

Here he is rolling the clay out to make the bowl.


Jake and Aaron goofing off at the pool a couple of weeks ago. We have loved having our neighborhood pool! I like to call it "our pool" because there is hardly ever people there! It is nice to have a pool and not have to take care of it. Jake and I went this Saturday (while Aaron was doing homework) at around 11 and had the pool to ourselves the whole 2 1/2 hours we were there!



Jake and Sophia (the other little one we babysit, she is almost 7 months old).

I can't wait to post pictures of Jake's Baptism!

...But I have too! I have no pictures whatsoever of the evening! Which is a good thing. My mom took pictures and I didn't even bring my camera! What a strange, yet glorious feeling to actually fully experience an event with out convincing people to let me take their picture! I had such a wonderful time watching Jake that day that I can't wait to relive it when I see the pictures!

Ever year we go around Jake's birthday and get his picture taken. I have them hung up in our little hallway (Aaron calls it the shrine to Jake), and I love it! I, for whatever reason, still don't have his 7 year picture (which happened when he was nearly 7 1/2 and is so awesome!)up. I have the frame and everything (don't judge me...) and I still haven't put it up...I am going to go find it and put it up now!..Well, in a minute any way! First I have to say...

OUR HOUSE IS UNDER CONTRACT, TO A FAMILY WHO IS ALREADY PRE-APPROVED AND IT IS JUST A MATTER OF PAPER WORK AND PACKING AND WE WILL BE ON OUR WAY TO OUR NEXT ADVENTURE!!!!!!!

I know that was a run on sentence (but if you are looking for good grammar and punctuation you have come to the wrong place! I just write it like I would say it!) but I am excited...but still waiting to get really excited until we are 100% sure nothing could go wrong! (We are leery because of last time, so we are only at 95% right now...) Sorry Aaron I had to tell a few people! He said to not tell too many people in case something happens...Don't tell anyone, ok?

...Just had a heart attack because my phone rang it was the buyers agent! AHHH! She was just calling to tell me she was e-mailing me a form she had to photocopy and that the contract is already sent into the bank-so we are one step closer to selling!!! PHEW! My heart skipped a bear when I saw her name-bad memories of the last buyers! :)

I skipped right over the first day of the 3rd grade!

I totally forgot about putting up pictures of the first day of school! I think I was so preoccupied with getting ready for Jake's Baptism and party that I forgot about starting the 3rd grade!

On Friday the 21st we went and meet his teacher and found out what class he was in. We found out quickly because as we were walking down 2nd and 3rd grade hall, one of Jake's best friends ran down the hall gave Jake a bear hug that lifted him right off his feet and said "YOU ARE IN MY CLASS!!!" You see Jake, Cameron, and Cade were in 1st grade together, but in the 2nd grade they were all in different classes. This year Cameron and Jake are together. Cade is in another class but luckily they all have recess together!

School started Tuesday August 25th, and Jake has Mrs. Gillespie, a very organized and sweet teacher. I didn't even cry the first day this year! I think I was just too busy. He wanted me to walk him in but the babies got dropped off a few minutes too late to do it. (I was bummed and so was Jake...) I hope next year he will still want me to walk him in!

Well, we are a week in and Jake was trying to convince me he should stay home and take a nap since he was so tired from his birthday weekend celebrations. This year the play time at school is recess and gym. They are down to the business of getting ready for EOG's (end of grade tests-not my favorite thing at all)! He is losing that loving feeling for school he says, but he always says it was great when he gets home. Getting back into the swing of things is taking longer than usual this year! I am sure it will be another great year and we will get to spend at least some of it at our favorite school!

We are big fans of breakfast in bed! Jake had to get back in bed but that works too!


Almost ready to go! (To give me less to clean when people come to look at the house, we moved Jake into our bathroom...Is that lazy?)

The backpack shot! We are sick of buying cheap bags that fall apart every year so we headed to Frugal Backpacker and got Jake a bag that will last for a few years (and it was only $10 more than the cheap ones we always buy! Live and learn!) Jake loves it and so does Aaron. Maybe we will go back and get you one Aaron, when our house sells, because you will be doing the same thing in Charlotte.

Jake was so excited that I let him pick out what he was going to wear! I am a fan of matching so I had to approve his choice. I was hoping for a polo shirt but really his vintage Empire Strikes back shirt is way cooler than a polo!

Another change this year is Jake rides the bus home! We live about a 3 minute drive from the school, but they do 2 loads on each bus to get them to and from school. This is the first year our neighborhood is first load in the afternoon. Which means he gets home the same time as he would if I picked him up (not to mention I would have to get there 30 minutes before school gets out and wait in line with 2 babies in a Jeep that has no air conditioning!) I still take him in the morning because school starts at 8 and the bus would pick him up at 6:45!

Sophia chilling in the stroller! Thanks Melissa for letting us borrow it! It is a life saver!


Bella was so excited to pick Jake up at the bus stop. All day she asked if she could go on the bus too. She would say "Jake bus, you (that is what she calls herself) too?"

And the wait was over! This is actually the 2nd day of school. I was a wreck the first day when I didn't know where he would be getting off so I couldn't go meet him! I was worried he would not know where to get off...He knows the neighborhood and could get home from any part of it but I am paranoid. He of course knew what to do and I gave myself an ulcer all day for nothing! (the story of my life-worrying about anything and everything when there is nothing to actually be worried about in the first place!)