7 years!

Wow, Hubbie and I just celebrated our 7th anniversary on the 21st! How crazy is that?! And do you know what? I love him just as much as the day I married him, if not more. Here's to another 7!

Okay, read my post about food poisening, and then know that today I got released!! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!! I really am praying that the two are not related! I don't think they are, but what a bad coincidence, huh?? The other leader got released too, so I think it's just cause I was in there a while.

Shiloh

Sad day at our house... We had to put Shiloh to sleep. We we're joking a few weeks back that it looked like she had breast cancer, becuase her nipples looked inflamed. Sadly, one of them turned into a lump the size of a small basket ball- can dogs get breast cancer?? After some serious thought we decided she didn't look very comfortable and took her to the vet. He was shocked that the lump was so big and 15 minutes later Hubbie left with out her. So sad, he said she whimpered as he left the room, and it's going to take him a while to forget that. Little Man started crying, he said he didn't want her to go live with Heavenly Father, it was heart breaking! Cooper (the white dog in the photo) still looks confused, he keeps running around the yard looking for her. And sweet little Squirt doesn't have a clue that anything has changed.

Food poisoning!

I could just die right now... Okay so I'm over the 8-9 achievement day girls at church, I had them over last Wednesday to make cookies and then we we're delivering them to some people in the ward. Today one of the little "angels" says "Oh, by the way- we all got sick from the cookies on wednesday" come to find out 2 of them (fortunatly only 4 came) were vomiting the next day, ALL DAY! Boy what a good leader and responsible adult am I?? I didn't eat any of the dough, and when they wanted to see who could shove the biggest ball of dough into their mouths and swallow, I did warn them that it wasn't a good idea! I guess I should have been a little more firm! So I apologized to the girls so many times, and emailed the parents (that's just too embarrasing of a phone call to make!) In my defense it was store bought dough! And the funny thing is, the sugar cookies were so ugly, I let them take them home and we delivered some regular cookies that we made, so at least we didn't poison the whole ward! Maybe they'll release me?!?!...

Christmas- is it over yet?

Do you ever feel like the spirit of Christmas is just lost? I tried to get my shopping done early, I feel like I did okay there, but I wanted to try to be a little more spiritual this year. First off, I have a book that has a story, scripture, and song for each night of December. Basically December 1st was a failure. Squirt was crying, Little Man was trying to talk, then when told to be quiet- he continued to talk just in a whisper, Hubbie was ready while yelling at Little Man, I was trying to rock Squirt on my hip to keep from crying, basically everyone was feeling stress! December 2nd came along and the whole house went "not that book again!" So that idea crashed and burned on the first night.

Then there is the whole christmas candy thing. We make chocolates, I don't really have a clue how to do it, I'm just man power to help. Normally we do this around Thanskgiving so that we can give them as gifts early. Well for several different reasons that didn't happen this year. We're doing some today, I'm also trying to make suckers for a relief society thing, that could be a blog in and of it self! What a hassle.

Then there is Little Man, I thought- wouldn't it be fun to let him pick out a present for his little brother. He was very excited as well! It took him about 15 seconds in the toy isle to lose his focus. I literally ended up yelling at him in Walmart because all I was hearing was "I want this... I want that... Can I have this..." etc. And basically he bought a toy for Tanner that "I can play with too, right??"

I just feel like I don't have time to focus on the spirit of christmas becuase I have a million things to do and becasue all I'm hearing is "I wants". It's annoying.

Oregon, cont...

Well the wedding happened, full of drama... mainly just rushing and people pulling out their hair. But the fun part of the whole weekend was that both boys decided they'd rather have the flu than have fun. Squirt started puking Thursday night (thankfully he waited till after the plane ride) and Little Man started puking Friday night. It's so fun having exploding kids when your in someone else's house. I had the whole basement of Hubbie's aunts house covered in towels and blankets. I did more loads of laundry than I do normally in a week. The good thing is that their house is big enough that the rest of the world could continue functioning upstairs and no one knew how bads things really were downstairs. Also I think I may have actually lost a pound or two from all of the running up and down the stairs I did (of course the vomiting hit me Saturday night, so that helped) The happy ending to this story is that they were both so exhausted that they both slept from start to finish on the 2 1/2 hour flight home. I was so grateful and so were the folks around us, because I had the barf bags ready! It drizzled the whole weekend and we even saw some snow... that was nice. I decided that travel (with kids) is over rated!

Oregon

We're off to Oregon on Thursday the 29th. Yeah!! It'll be freezing which we haven't felt in a long time... Hubbie's cousin is getting married and he's a "groomsmen" or what ever they're called these days. The whole family is flying on the same flight (minus Hubbie's sister's family) so he's convinced that the plane will crash (he's always this way before flying!) Also Emily, Hubbie's sister, is pretty sure something will happen and the wedding won't occur. Can we say doomed from the start?? Of course the date has changed 3 times, so it may be! Wish us luck on a plane with a 1 1/2 year old and a 4 year old! I'll post pictures when I get back!

Family Pictures

Well, we had family pictures done. We had them taken at Saguaro Ranch Park, which if you've been there you know it is swarming with chickens and peacocks, needless to say Squirt was totally distracted! This one is the best though, in most of the others he's being his usual stubborn self and frowning when told to smile. Don't worry I ordered pics for moms and grandmas, sorry I'm ruining a christmas present. If anyone else wants one let me know!

This is so totally Squirt!

Pictures were done by Emily Buck- check her out at emilybuckphotography.com!

Give her back!

So as many of you may or may not know, about 3 months ago I found out I was pregnant and then ended up having an eptopic pregnancy. Any ways long story short... I'm not pregnant anymore. My 4 year old is having a hard time accepting this, he was convinced it was a girl and even said (when I told him I was pregnant) that the "people" (who ever they may be) could have Squirt back. A few weeks ago at church I was holding a baby, he asked who's baby it was so I told him and he said "Oh, I thought it was my baby sister" Wouldn't it be nice if life we're that easy?? Just a few days ago he was watching TV and saw a commercial for a princess doll house type castle. He informed me he needed that, when asked why he said "For my baby sister" I said " Who has your baby sister" to which he replied, with a little hostility in his voice, "Jesus, and he needs to give her back!" Ahhh, the drama of a 4 year old!

Other Links

Church/Lesson Help Links:
Emma's Place
Sugardoodle
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Visiting Teaching
Family Home Evening

Preparedness Links:
Food Storage Made Easy
iPrepared
Ready Set Store
Totally Ready
$5/week Food Storage

Cooking/Recipe Lings:
A Year of Using the Crockpot
Our Best Bites
Stephanie Cooks
You Are What You Eat

Blogs I Stalk:

Alpha Mom
Andrea's Bookclub
Bent Objects
Boys-R-Us
Confessions Of A Rookie
Desert Deals Diva
Her Cup Overfloweth
Jen's Jingle
My Real Life Was Back Ordered
Mormon Mommy Blogs
None of Your Beeswax
One Money Dummy Getting Smarter
Ponytail Challenge
Seriously So Blessed
The Chocolate Chip Waffle
Trapped Between a Scream and a Hug

Crafty Sites I Love:

A Girl & A Glue Gun
Creative Homemakers
Creative Organizing
Dana Made It
Domestic Charm
Everything Your Mama Made
Flip Flops and Applesauce
Givers Log
How Does She?
Make It & Love It
Make It Do
Me and My Insanity
My Garden of Eden
Nap Time Journal
Organizing Junkie
Portabellopixie
Project Run & Play
Resourceful Mommy
Sassy Sites
Sew Mama Sew
Sewing In No Man's Land
Simply Designing
Skip To My Lou
Sparkle Power
The Idea Room
Tip Junkie
While They Sleep
Whip Up