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...