Just Us Forever

The time has come.

2011-02-13T21:09:00.000-06:00

Well we are FINALLY here. Tomorrow is THE big day!!! I can't believe I am writing this it still seems VERY sureal.

Tomorrow I start school...holy crapperonies...just writing it makes me feel just a little sick. Mom and I figured out that I am actually only in school for 60 weeks total...that really is not that long. I am actually REALLY excited to start, to start a HUGE new stage for our family. There are going to be so many changes but so much growth for all of us. For the last few weeks we have really focused on how we need to be a team, that we all have to work together and do our best. GooOOooOOO TEAM!!! :) I am SURE we are going to hit bumps along the way but we WILL overcome it...we WILL be better for this.

Nathan told me the other day "Mom, you go to school to learn to be a nurse, I go to school to learn to be a kid!!" Hehehe...I wish I could go back to school to learn to be a kid.

Unfortunately, along the way this blog is definately going on the back burner :( I still love reading about what all of you are doing out there but I will not be on here much at all anymore. I promise to put some updates on here every once in a while but between being gone for 10+ hours a day, family time and then a couple hours of study time I really will not have a whole lot of time left over at the end of the day.

Pray for my sanity...wish me luck...whatever it is, until then Adieu.

Quiet Moments

2011-01-26T02:35:00.001-06:00

Tonight as I was laying in bed the room suddenly seemed very dark, too quiet, and lonely(even though Wayne's arms were wrapped around me).....and thoughts....so many thoughts were racing through my mind.

Thoughts of going to school.....

*********

My classmates, am I going to like them? Sure I am, I like most people. But am I going to connect with them? Are they going to like me? Is there someone in my class that I am "suppose" to meet?

Wow... I can't believe that this is really happening and so soon. Am I ready for this? Today's the 25th...no 26th so that's 5 days till the 31st and then school is in 14 days...oh my goodness that's only 19 days........................ Is my family ready for this? What am I doing to my family? Are my boys going to understand? Are they going to know that I did this to better myself, better our family, better them? Are they going to be bitter that I am leaving them for 10 hours out of the 13 hours they are awake? Rylan will be ok, but how is this going to affect Nathan? He's a GREAT kid, he'll be ok. Quality time over quantity time. Quality time over quantity time.

THE LOAN!!! Oh man, what am I doing???? Ok, if we use {this} much money and I work hard how quickly will I be able to pay it off once I am done school? That's not too bad but is that realistic? Can we really get by? Am I going to make my family suffer financially because of this choice? I KNOW it will all be worth it but what is the price? Sorry boys, tonight for the 3rd night in a row we are having PB&J sandwiches.

It's going to be like being a full-time working Mom. No it's not!!! I will not only be gone for 10 hours a day but then I am going to be studying for at least a few hours a night. I have never been a "working" Mom....I really like being a stay at home Mom. I really like being with my boys most of the time. I really like being home. I like my house.

Agggg....the money. It's ok...there are 2 things that are ok to go into debt for....the Prophet even said so......I wonder if using some of that money for a shopping trip is acceptable too...hehe... (I WAS TOTALLY KIDDING ABOUT THIS). Why can't money just be free? I wonder what prime is going to be when I am done school? I wonder if Wayne is really freaking out about the money but isn't saying anything?

*******

As all these thoughts were racing around in my mind I could feel my chest tightening, my breathing was getting faster and I could not slow my thoughts down. I quietly asked Wayne if he was awake but he was sound asleep so asking him for advice would be futile.

I did some deep breathing, but my mind was not cooperating. I was thinking how I wish my Dad was there so I could ask him for a father's blessing to help me with these next few weeks of craziness. Since he wasn't there I did the next best thing and something that always helps.....I started to sing in my mind
'I Am A Child Of God'

I had only sang "I am a child of God" when I quietly heard "You will be able to receive all the further education that you desire." These words were said to me in my Patriarchial Blessing. Right there Heavenly Father (through the Holy Ghost) gave me the "Father's blessing" that I needed. I NEEDED to know that I was going to be ok. I needed to know that my choices were what Heavenly Father approved. I needed to know that EVERYTHING was going to be fine, my boys were going to be fine, the money doesn't matter...it will all be fine. I know that this has ALL happened for a reason....there have been too many obstacles in the road that have brought me to this point to doubt that RIGHT NOW I am where I need to be. Heavenly Father KNEW that I needed this RIGHT NOW and the peace that washed over my body as I laid silently crying was astounding.

I am still Nathan and Rylan's Mommy that will never change, I just get to wear OTHER hats too. For now I will be able to take off my Mommy hat for 10+ hours a day and put on my student hat. Then when I am done school I get to put on my working hat. What's wrong with that? I know that my Heavenly Father KNEW that right then I needed him, I REALLY needed my Dad. I am so grateful that he is ALWAYS there willing to help direct me, comfort me, teach me, and love me.

I know that it is 2am but I wanted to write this down because I know that I will want to remember this moment. I am going to have hard days and I am going to feel incredibly lonely but I will be able to go back and read these words and know that when I can't be with my earthly Dad for the love and support I need, I am NEVER alone.

I AM A CHILD OF GOD!!

Some of the random holiday fun!!!

2011-01-12T10:14:00.000-06:00

These are just a few of the "random" things that happened over this Holiday season. :)

Trip to Santa was so funny. We told Nathan to make sure you tell Santa something you want for Christmas.....well Nathan stood like this and ran off a list of about 20 things that he wanted for Christmas. What was SOOO funny is EVERY time Wayne and I would ask him what he wanted he would tell us MAYBE 1-2 things. Obviously, Nathan knows who is important to tell your list to. :)

Both boys enjoyed Santa.

This really is a RANDOM picture but so cute. We were DONE supper, hence the lack of a bib, and decided maybe the boys would like dessert. Rylan sure liked it.

Nathan's Christmas Concert. The sweet little girl in the pink was VERY hand expressive and Nathan got wacked a few times..hehe. The little guy to his right is his GOOD little buddy Drew R.

Nate really did enjoy the concert...not that you can tell by this picture.

Dress up day...is this not THE cutest Giraffe you have EVER seen.

Nathan is hilarious as soon as this costume goes on. Nathan has a GREAT imagination and uses it to BECOME Wolverine....it's pretty intense...hehe.

Having some early morning cartoon time. Rylan LOVES to cuddle up to his big brother and will climb up by him all the time. Nathan LOVES it and usually will cover him in hugs and kisses. They are SUCH good brothers.

Holiday Break...and a MUCH needed break at that. (Warning...tons of pictures)

2011-01-08T18:23:00.000-06:00

So Boxing Day night we headed home, quickly brought in all the gifts and luggage from Christmas, threw some laundry into the wash, repacked our bags and went to bed. Early the next morning we got up, repacked the car and were on the road again for our trip to Edmonton with Russ, Beth, Eli & Celeste.

We stopped in Lloydminster for a quick bite to eat. They had an old style train table thing that I use to LOVE to sit on when I was a kid and was excited to see Nathan and Eli sitting on it now!
(This picture cracks me up, seriously, could they be making better faces?!?)

On the road again!!! :)

On a few of the trips the Shutra's took there are pictures of Wayne's Dad giving this EXACT same look, so Wayne felt he needed to carry on the tradition..hehe.

Finally in Edmonton, waiting for Daddy to check into our room...it took a long time and then he told me he had to quickly check the beds for bedbugs....he is such a FREAK!!!!

At WEM... Nathan felt that he was a big boy and needed to sit at his own table. We were only a few feet away but he thought he was pretty cool!!!

The big pirate ship!!!

The first day we were there we just relaxed, did a little shopping and an early bedtime. The second day we were there we spent the day swimming at the WEM wavepool. It was SOOO much fun (I did not even bring my camera but now wish I had). All of the kids (minus Celeste and Beth, who were shopping) had a blast. They loved the newish play area and the wavepool. All 3 of the boys LOVED the waves but Rylan especially loved them. When the waves would hit him he would squeel in delight, and if the waves went over his head he would catch his breath, laugh and then say "More". A nice man gave us one of his tubes (they were leaving) and then went to go get their other one, and then while he was gone another man gave us another tube as well. All 3 boys were able to have their own tube and really enjoyed it.
After tons of swimming and a yummy supper, we took the kids back to the hotel room and put them to bed. (It was FABULOUS because we had adjoining rooms so the kids could just roam free between the rooms and we could visit during naptimes).
That night Wayne and Russell went to an Oiler's game and Beth and I were going to have a girl's night but she wimped out...hehe...actually she had a bad headache and I sent her to bed.

On the 3rd day we did some serious shopping in the morning (I think) and then Beth and I put the babies down for a nap and Wayne, Russell, Nathan and Eli went to WEM rides and had some fun. Eli was a little too short to go on most of the rides, but Nathan was able to go on all of the kids ones and even this "new" rollercoaster. This is the cart they were in, we just could not see them. Russ & Wayne said the Rollercoaster was actually pretty quick and fun (I think Nathan was JUST tall enough to go on this one). Nathan said it was SCARY, but he wants to go on it TONS more times.

Beth & her cuties waiting for the big boys to have their turn.

This one is out of place but this is where Rylan slept...I was taking a picture of his bed and he quickly layed down and posed...hehe..silly little guy.

We headed home on the fourth day, threw all our stuff into the house and rushed into the Blades game. My sister Karalee, her husband Dennis and her girl's Iliegh and Keyla all came down and Dad took us all to the game. Man I miss these guys!!! Hint Hint

This was a pretty common sight...they were ALL sooooo excited to see eachother that there was a lot of tickling and giggling going on.

Dennis, Karalee & my precious little Keyla (who BTW, LOVES her Auntie Jackie!!! Well at least my Cleanup song.)

New Year's Eve we had dinner at Mom & Dad's played cards and just had a nice time and then Wayne and I took the boys home and had a quiet evening alone while playing the new SMB for Wii.

New Year's Day we went back over to Mom & Dad's and had another yummy lunch and played more cards/games. The kids played NON-STOP and really well together. Nathan was sooo happy to have his BEST friend Iliegh back and the two of them just picked up where they had left off almost 18 months ago.

Here's the "big" kids having a little break from playing. Cuddled up in Grandma and Grandpa's HUGE bed!!

Playing cards...my Mom & Karalee needed to be put in a time out for being bad RIGHT before I took this picture...you are BOTH lucky I didn't catch it.

"Baby" girls playing so nicely together.

Dennis enjoying some computer time.

It was such a GREAT Holiday and so nice to be with my family. We were able to just unwind, relax, have fun and de-stress and it was THE PERFECT ending to a busy 2010 Christmas!!!

Christmas Day

2011-01-07T18:47:00.000-06:00

Christmas Day was filled with family, gift opening, food, hanging out, and relaxing which is always nice.
Santa snuck into the house sometime in the few moments I wasn't awake coughing and filled our stockings with some fun things. ** A little side note, see how Santa is underlined on the gifts to Nathan....well Mrs. Clause thought it would be funny to play a trick on "Santa" since Santa thinks he is tricky and tries to figure out his gifts. So this year Mrs. Clause wrapped up the gift and put "To Daddy, From Santa" on the paper and wrapped them again and put "To Nathan, From Santa" (the underline was suppose to remind Mrs. Clause that those were the tricky gifts). Mrs. Clause was then going to open them on Christmas Eve and the REAL recipient would be revealed....HAHAHA!!!! Well Mrs. Clause FORGOT and Santa put them with Nathan's stocking, so when Nathan opened his stocking gift he looked shocked and said "Hey, this is wrapped again, and it says "To Daddy, From Santa" LOL... Oh I could have died of laughter..... Things were quickly fixed and we teased Santa that he was soooo silly and everything was forgotten. **

Santa gobbled up the goodies and the milk and left all the kids a sweet little note. I must have scared him with my coughing though because he RUSHED out of the house and left his hat behind. Hopefully he had some extra ones in his sleigh.

Rylan opening one of his gifts. He lasted pretty long but was slow, which drove Nathan INSANE..hehe. RyGuy just wanted to play with each of the gifts and didn't care there were more presents waiting for him.

Nathan really "GOT" the whole Santa thing this year and was THRILLED with all his presents....well with the actual ACT of opening his presents. He likes the things he got, but he REALLY liked opening the gift....but really?!? Who doesn't???

Little Miss Farrish opening one of her gifts. I wish I had gotten a picture of the gift we gave her as it was a kid's Home Depot welding set (Both her Mom & Dad are Welders) and a Tutu...that's my kind of girl...a little tomboy, but can dress up and be a Princess!!! :)

Later on in the Day (about 11am..hehe.) the festivities must have really worn out Wayne & Brian 'cause they slept, while....

the girls watched a sappy Christmas movie. I obviously played with my new camera!!! :)

Nathan found a comfy spot within the disaster zone and enjoyed some Gameboy playing.

Later, that night we went for dinner with the extended family of Shutra's at Wayne's cousins house but I didn't get any pictures of this part.

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-04T22:03:00.000-06:00

This year was the InLaw's Christmas and we were able to spend a few days with the Shutra's. We hung out for a while, made a Gingerbread House

and then after supper and baths we got to open our Christmas Eve gift...PJ'S!!!

Such POSERS!!!! But soooo cute!!!!

Yay, a decent picture (finally) of our little family!!!

Christmas Eve Wayne did what he does best (plan the games) and we did quite a few "Minute To Win It" games. We played the cup stacking game, we played get the golf ball closest to the dot, drop the pennies into a glass in a mug of water, etc.etc. But the most surprising and talent showing game we played was get the cracker down the face into the mouth without yours hands game.

Nathan did REALLY well with this one, but those old Shutras have some face moving talents and were SUPER quick.

What a cute kid!!

Wayne's Dad Brian was THE CHAMP at this game....we would say "GO" and within maybe 3-5 seconds the cracker was in his mouth....it was CRAZY!!!

I don't think the cracker ever moved for Andy....such a funny guy!!!

Ummmm... I am not sure what Darryl is doing here? :)

Nice one Aaron!!!

There are NO words...but I must say I took out 2 Shutras (and no that does not include Rylan and Nathan).

I don't know how Juanita and Grandma missed getting their picture taken at this point but I at least caught this picture of Grandma and 2/3 of her babies.

The kids were GREAT for most of the night but by the end of the games it was DEFINATELY time for bed. Rylan went to sleep really well, but there was a certain 5 year old that was just a LITTLE excited and kept getting out of bed 'cause he "couldn't" sleep...hehe so fun.

There is a Christmas tree back there. To give you an idea of how high this pile was....it was up to my chest....so many presents just waiting to be opened!!!

My sweet Casanova!!!

2010-11-29T20:56:00.000-06:00

A few days ago Nathan had a little extra cuddle time with me as we watched one of our favorite shows The Biggest Loser. On the show one of the past contestants proposed to his girlfriend and Nathan asked "Mom, do you have to sit on your knee when you ask a girl to marry you?" I told him "OF COURSE!!!". He then asked me "Do you have to give a ring?" I told him if he wanted to that would be nice but he didn't have to.

We continued to watch the show for a few minutes and then our conversation went somewhere I NEVER thought it would go with my 5 year old...
N- "Mom, I was going to marry a girl but she left and I can't find her."
M-"Who was the girl?"
N-" (A girl from his school, who I have NEVER heard her name before) but she went to some other school and now I don't know where she is so I guess I won't marry her." He sighs a deep sigh...{haha}.
M-"I guess not if you can't find her."

We sat cuddling for a second and then he pipes up....
N-"I guess that leaves Shaela, Brenna, and Payton" (His tone was soooo mature.)
M-"I guess that does." (I was REALLY trying to not laugh.)
N-"My highest is then....Well Shaela doesn't work because she is going to be an adult before me and she'll be married before I am an adult so that doesn't work."
M-"I guess not." (Where the heck is this coming from?)

We cuddled some more as I sat in shock that the little bug could even process or care enough to process this marriage thing.
N-"And Payton is little and won't be an adult till after I am an adult so I can't marry her." (Little does he know that she will be the perfect age when he gets home from his mission...hehe.)
M-"Oh?" (Again not trying to LOL)
N-"So.... I guess that leaves Brenna!!" (He did a little hand up movement that put me over the edge)
M-"I guess so."
N-"She will be good because she will be an adult when I am an adult, and I am this much bigger than her. (He shows me about an inch with his fingers) So she will work Mom. I guess I will marry Brenna."
M-"Well Nathan, I think Brenna is a GREAT girl and she would be lucky to marry you." :)

The things he comes up with stun me everyday. Man I love my little love bug.

Want to maybe win something FABULOUS?!? I do!!!

2010-11-15T12:13:00.002-06:00

So Brown Paper Packages is not only WONDERFUL because they have a GREAT blog, but because they helped me to hopefully finish off my Christmas shopping!!! I have been eyeing these necklaces for quite a while...hint...hint Wayne (this is a time to ask me which ones I like..hehe), and would love to win because who doesn't like free stuff??!! :) Go on over to their blog and enter your name in for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to a super cute shop!!!

Love these ones:

Pictures are from The Vintage Pearl, super cute!!!

I was one of THOSE Mom's today!!!

2010-11-15T10:48:00.000-06:00

Today, this was NOT me...

Oh no..no..no... today this was me....

Haha...after searching for my keys for over 10 minutes and FINALLY finding them on my carseat, with the door unlocked (where they had been for 4 days) I was LATE getting Nathan to school. So I skipped the bra, threw on my coat, put on my Soreil's (which are not needed because there is hardly any snow), and took Nathan to school, pj pants, glasses, messy hair and all!!! I debated just telling Nate to get out of the car by himself when we got to the school but I couldn't skip giving him a kiss and helping him get his backpack on so I sucked up my pride and climbed out of the car. I have NEVER seen so much traffic....haha...oh well....

Seriously, can you get any cuter???

2010-11-09T21:36:00.000-06:00

I was going through a bunch of videos and couldn't help but post this one...it kills me!!! I would NEVER have let a 4 year old hold Nathan and do this with him, but hey, baby #2 is suppose to be tough right?!?!? :0)

Nathan LOVED holding HIS baby and would ask me to let him babysit ALL the time. This was a very common situation....it was nice having a 4 year space between boys and having a built in babysitter. Enjoy!!

I love being a Mom....I love being a Mom....I love being a Mom... I love..ahhhh

2010-08-31T22:31:00.000-06:00

Please don't get me wrong, I really REALLY love my boys... I love them enough to admit that I am not a perfect Mom... CRAZY I know.

But today...today was one of THOSE days. You know those days when the thought briefly or maybe for a few minutes passes through your mind what life was like before kids. Being able to sleep in, cleaning my house and it staying clean for more than 30 minutes....I would be happy if it stayed clean for 5 minutes. Nobody needing me, nobody climbing on me, no whining (well maybe Wayne), no R-"Mum, mum, mum, mum" N-"MOM, Mommy,mmOOOOOMmmm" R-"Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma" N-"Mom, Mom, Mom where are you?" R-"ma ma ma uuuuuuuu??"

I love being a Mom, I love being a Mom, I love being a Mom.....

My poor baby is getting all 4 of his molars AND has a cold. All he does is walk around whining, sometimes chewing on stuff and saying my name...oh and did I forget to mention pulling out a FULL box of Rice Krispies RIGHT after I had spent 45 minutes tidying, sweeping, and washing. And then lunch happened...glorious lunch where my sweet one year old is trying soooo hard to be a big boy and in doing so he feeds himself with a spoon or fork....food everywhere!!! What was the point of cleaning??? I don't know.

So what did I do? I ran out of the house screaming like a CRAZY person. (I thought about it but no).

I took that messy little boy, left the mess, cleaned off the kid, grabbed his soother..blankie..& Lambie and rocked with him on the chair while singing sweet nothings to him. And as I sang all I could think is...

I love being a Mom...I love being a Mom...I love being a Mom.

Today, not tomorrow.

2010-07-15T15:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I attended a funeral. One of Wayne's employee's wife was killed in a horribly tragic accident over the weekend. She left behind a husband, 3 beautiful daughters, MANY siblings and even more people that loved her.

It was a BEAUTIFUL service, a celebration of her life and it was wonderful to see so many people express their intense love for this wonderful lady. The Pastor was actually her brother and he read some beautiful scriptures about being in God's arms and God helping to lift you when you are in need. He also talked about how she in Jesus's arms where she is now safe, and at peace. It really was a very peaceful, wonderful funeral.

Another brother told a story, last year her husband and her were in Mexico, where they go every year together, and she was snorkeling. She was swept away in a riptide and was actually quite far away from shore. She had tried to scream for help, had tried to swim back but NO ONE heard her and she just kept being pulled farther and farther away. On the beach one of her daughters noticed that her Mom was gone and then they realized that she was way out in the ocean. This lady's husband (who could barely swim) was able to save her and help her swim, going from buoy to buoy, back to shore. She had told her family afterwards that as she was out there she had made her Peace with God and that she knew she was going to die, she was just too weak, but that she knew everything would be okay. She survived. THEN this weekend, she was on the opposite side of the city from where she was suppose to be, she pulled her car over on the side of the "highway", jumped out of her car(waving her arms frantically) and was hit by a Semi and died.

Why now, why not in Mexico? If she had just waited half a second would she have lived? If she had pulled over a little more? If the Semi had slowed down 10 miles back just a bit would he not have been there at that exact second? It has been a testament to me that the Lord has a plan for us and when it's your time to go, it's your time.

Wayne and I were talking about the accident on Saturday night after he was informed of her passing and we were both almost stunned how quickly it happened. How incredibly sad it was that they had both left that morning to go to work and "knew" that they would see eachother afterwards and yet she never came home. It was a little overwhelming the feelings that were flooding my thoughts as I thought about how we really don't know when it will be our time and yet

AM I READY?

Have I said the things to the people I love that I would want them to know? Was I angry with Wayne as he left for work or did I let him know that I love him? What if he never came back, would my last words to him be of love & peace or of anger? Will my boys remember me as a wonderful mom who TRULY cared about them or will they remember that I was always tired/cranky/upset/sad/busy? Have I taught my boys all the things that I would want for them (of course not, but have I started)? Have I made my "peace" with my Heavenly Father? Am I spiritually ready?

Another thing I've been thinking a lot about is the whole time I sat there in the funeral, I kept feeling that they were still missing something. It hit me about halfway through the service....they never mentioned that they could be an Eternal Family and be with their beautiful Mom again someday. My heart broke for them. I have been to many "LDS" funerals and even though yesterday's funeral was as similar to a "LDS" funeral as you could get there was still SUCH a HUGE piece of the puzzle missing. So incredibly sad.

I am so grateful that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and that I have the knowledge that someday I WILL be reunited with my family again. That as long as I am doing the things that I NEED to be doing that I will have that peace that whenever it's my time to leave this part of my journey, that it will be okay.

I have decided in my heart that my boys will know I love them, that they are so incredibly special to me, and they will have the knowledge that I want them to have. My husband will know that he is my everything not only by my words but through my actions, and that I want him there someday beside me through the rest of the eternities. My extended family will know how crazy in love with ALL of them that I am. My friends will know I love and appreciate them because I do.

I am also so grateful for the peace that I have because of the gospel and the truth that it gives me. We all go through hard times in our lives but yet I know that my Heavenly Father is there, he REALLY loves us and will comfort us through our lowest moments.

Today is a new day, I am here, I can change and I can be better, not tomorrow but today and that makes me SO happy!!!

One of those moments

2010-05-04T13:57:00.003-06:00

I'm lying in bed, yes it's 1:46 in the afternoon
I'm happy....truly happy.
Nathan is lying beside me, my feet are tired
bread is rising, chicken soup is cooling, cookies..
oh, yummy cookies...
preschool is done and Nathan is cold and tired,
we are cuddling.
Peace
I love moments like these...
the house is quiet other than the rythmic breaths coming from Nate's tiny body, Rylan's humidifier
and the sound of cold, wetness outside.
His breath smells sweet, strawberries dipped in Nutella sweet
His perfect eyelashes, smooth skin, beautiful mouth.....
Intense Love
His arm is wrapped around mine, safe and warm
His fingers keep twitching, he's in a deep sleep
Perfection
I should get back to work but I'm going to lay here for a little while longer
These moments slip away....so fast.
I'm thankful that I know that he's mine Forever.

Well, I did it and I'm super excited!!!

2010-04-09T20:48:00.002-06:00

I am super excited to tell you all that I am now an official Scentsy consultant!!! WAHOO!!!

If you don't know what Scentsy is, it is new to Canada, I'll give you a brief rundown of it.
Scentsy is a wickless "candle" product in fact there's more to it than that. Fabulous product, Fabulous prices!!There are:
Lot's of different sizes and styles of warmers (this is just a small sample of the warmers):

80 +scents of wax (they come in a different shape now, but exact same product):

hanging scents(can be put anywhere, closets, car etc.):

room sprays:

and travel tins:

I LOVE this product. The warmers warm the wax (no candles, no wicks, no burning, just a lightbulb, safe), and the incredible scents are released into the air... simple, FABULOUS!!!

So, on Thursday April 15th from 7pm-9pm I am excited to be having my Launch Party at my house to kick off an exciting new venture!!! And an Open House on Saturday April 17th from 11am-3pm (again at my house). I would love for you all to come and get to know the AWESOME product that Scentsy offers. **If you don't know my address, email me, or write me on here and I'll give you my address and directions. I don't want to post it on here....that's too creepy for me!!**

If you aren't able to make it, whether it's because you don't live here or are too busy, you can still go to my Scentsy website at any time and check out the product, or even order from there.
My website is:
https://jackieshutra.scentsy.ca/Home

If there are too many things you want let me know. Having a party is EASY and what's better than hanging out with your friends/family and earning free products???

Or if you just want to email me, or have ANY questions about the product or the company you can reach me at:
shutrascents@gmail.com

I am seriously so excited. I love the product and can't wait to share it with everyone I love!!! What's better than hanging out, having a fun time, and getting to play with some awesome products!!! I hope to see you all there. And bring a friend, I love meeting new people!!! :0)

~*~Also, just wanted to remind you that Mother's Day is coming up soon. Scentsy is a new/unique gift that every mom would love. Email me and I can tell you how to drop "subtle" hints to your hubby of what you would REALLY love for Mother's Day!!!~*~

My little crawler

2010-02-20T08:39:00.001-06:00

Rylan LOVES to crawl. You can just tell that he feels SOOOO cool. Yesterday after I changed his tooshie I put him on the floor and he started to crawl away, then paused, looked back at me, then smiled, then crawled a little more...repeat a few times. I got down behind him and said that I was going to get him. Rylan started giggling and tried to quickly crawl away(well his quickly, which was like watching Bambi trying to skate). I kept telling him I was going to get him and he laughed he kept trying to get away from me and was giggling so hard. I grabbed him and "ate" his belly and the belly laugh that came from that little boy made my week...it was full on hilarious. We did this for a while until I was afraid that the poor child was going to puke...hehe.

It is so fun seeing his little personality really starting to come out, and he is definately going to be a little teaser.

He is learning something.

2010-02-20T08:28:00.000-06:00

Last night Nathan and I (well Rylan too) were in Walmart looking for a few things. I don't know if it's any other kids, but Nathan does not ever pay attention to where he's going....it's SOOO frustrating. I am constantly pulling him out of oncoming people "traffic", or people are jumping around him, he just is so in his own little world that he doesn't see them or doesn't care.

As we were walking down one of the aisles I was busy trying to sit up Rylan in the cart and Nate was walking beside me. We passed a lady and then Nathan said "Oh, I'm sorry." I looked down and he said to me "I bumped into her, but I said I'm sorry." The lady gave me a sweet smile (one of those smiles when she knows that I've worked so hard for Nathan to be polite, you're a good Mom smile) and walked away. I said "Good Job Bud." and we walked away.

It felt good to see Nathan reacting in such a polite way. We work so hard with him to say Thankyou, Please, I'm sorry etc. and in these moments when I don't have to direct him it feels wonderful to see that he is really absorbing it.

Good Job Buddy.

I love this quote!!

2010-02-19T15:48:00.003-06:00

"In spite of the six thousand manuals on child raising in the bookstores, child raising is still a dark continent and no one really knows anything. You just need a lot of love and luck - and, of course, courage."

-- Bill Cosby

My first quilt.

2010-02-16T21:26:00.000-06:00

So my BF Jenn asked me to make her sweet little guy, Kaleb, a quilt. After MANY, MANY fabric choices we finally narrowed it down... but one of the fabrics was sold out in multiple online stores. I finally got everything ordered and quickly put it all together.

It was soooo fun taking my new sewing machine on it's first adventure..isn't she pretty?!?

It's so nice not having to stop sewing, rethread, try to figure out what's wrong, get mad, and then start all over again. Thankyou Charlene for getting me started on getting the machine I love!!!

I forgot how hard it really is to get anything extra done with a little baby around, especially with Rylan just learning to crawl. The funny little guy thought it was SOOOO fun to crawl between the table legs and push on the footpedal...so there I was sewing at a nice pace and ZZZOOOOOMMMMMM off I'd go with the help of my little man..hehe.

I finally got the quilt done and I'm pretty excited about it. I get pretty anal with crafty things and want them to be PERFECT so I am glad it's over with. But I wanted to share with you my first (of hopefully many) quilts.

Now I need to get Rylan's quilt done.

2010-02-16T20:05:00.002-06:00

Are my videos working?!? Let me know please so I can hopefully fix them if they aren't.

Dancing Machine

2010-02-15T15:32:00.002-06:00

We listen to music a LOT in our home. I LOVE to turn the music on in the morning and dance to it all day long. My boys also love music and love to dance. I think Rylan got his dance moves from his Daddy...hehe. This song is one that Nathan "dances" to every week at his skating class and we love it.

The first minute is the best, but feel free to watch our whole dance party!!

A new stage...aahhhh!!! ;0)

2010-02-14T01:02:00.001-06:00

So we've come to my most favorite, wonderful, stressless stage.....hahaha...YA RIGHT!!!

Rylan is crawling. This video is sweet and is how he crawls when he's upstairs (I don't know if it's because the floor is slippery, but it cracks me up). Downstairs (on the carpet) he's a crawling/climbing/pulling up on EVERYTHING machine.

With Nathan I had my house baby proofed when he was born..hehe..but I really need to get things proofed or my poor little man is going to never be allowed on the ground again...hehe. I forgot how stealth like babies can be, and how incredible their eyesights are. How is it possible to see a teeny piece of paper(smaller than the size of a pea) across the room and under the rocking chair? My housekeeping skills are going to be kicked up a notch....or maybe paper is a good form of fiber. It also was a lot easier to keep things clean without a big brother making messes all over the place.

Oh well...it's fun moving onto this next stage with the little guy. And as you can see Nathan is loving it....well loving to tease Rylan but I guess it makes Rylan try harder.

2010-02-13T11:32:00.004-06:00

~~~Thanks Kari. So the blog I saw this on was...24-7-365!!! ~~~

This was Nathan's Valentine for his classmates this year... LOVE IT!!! :)
HAPPY LOVE DAY!
From the Shutra's

I'M IN!!!!

2010-02-06T11:27:00.000-06:00

On Thursday I received a letter and at the top of that letter it said:

CONGRATULATIONS!!! You've have been accepted into the Practical Nursing program!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!!! I start Feb. 11, 2011!!!

I am SOOOO excited!! Such an incredible sense of relief, accomplishment, joy. It's been such a long struggle but SO worth it. I am still hoping/praying that I will get into Saskatoon this year, but if not that's okay too. I KNOW that in 3 years I will be done school....ahhhhhhh.....3 years is not a long time.

Thankyou to everyone for all your words of encouragement, love, support, and prayers.

I'M IN!!!!

My little big man

2010-02-04T23:14:00.000-06:00

Tonight I was cuddling with Nate in his bed at bedtime and we were having a nice little chat about preschool, friends, bully's, etc. Nathan was acting so old and I said:

M-"Nate, will you stop growing?"
N-"I can't, I HAVE to keep growing."

I pouted and he hugged me.

M-"But Nate I don't want you to grow up, I want you to stay little FOREVER."
N-"Mom, if I stay this size forever people will tease me."
M-"?????? Why will they tease you?"
N-"Well, if I'm 90 but I still look 4 people will say, WHAT?"

Hehe...

We talked for a little bit longer and then I said:
M-"Nate, if you grow bigger pretty soon you're going to be 19 and you'll go on your mission and then get married and then you won't live with me anymore." Pout.
N-"Well, MOOOooooommmm... I'll just live with you forever. When I get married then we will just live here because when you get married you live where you live."
M-"Nate, Mommy is married and I don't live with my parents."
N-"Mom, when I am 11 and I get married I won't be old enough to drive so I'll have to live with you"
HAHAHAHA

I said goodnight, gave my little big man a hug and kiss and told him that we'll discuss him living with us FOREVER when he's 16.

I'm WAY too old to pull all nighters.

2010-02-02T12:34:00.000-06:00

For quite a while Wayne and I have been trying to decide what to do with Nursing school. As you all know I've been trying to get into Siast and there is a good chance that I won't be in before they change the requirements. Unfortnately, if I don't get in this year then I am going to have to upgrade all of my highschool core classes in order to bring my average up to 85%. When ONLY doing night courses it would take me a couple of years to get these classes completed...boooo.

Wayne has tried to convince me to apply to North Battleford college...ummmm, NO!!! There were too many negatives in my mind to even think about it.
-I refused to move there, paying rent and a mortgage is NOT in our budget, and I love my inlaws but would go INSANE if I lived with them...hehe., and there was NO WAY I was only seeing my boys on the weekend for 2 years...NEVER!!!

-the commute...uggg...not only would I have to go to school for 7 hours a day but then add a 2 hour commute onto that and that just sucks. Plus, what if the weather is crappy, will I get to school? will I get home from school?

-I don't want to leave my boys for those extra 2 hours (commute) a day... :(

-North Battleford College?!?!?! Really??? What kind of program would they have anyway?

-etc. etc. etc.

Well sneaky little Wayne decided to bring it up again while my Mom was visiting and while I was complaining about having to upgrade all my classes. My Mom decided to play devil's advicate and asked me "Jackie, would you rather make some sacrifices now and go to NB but be done school in 2 years, or would you rather wait, have to upgrade for 2 years, still maybe not have a high enough average and who knows when you'll get in?" Ugggg....you should have seen Wayne's "I told you so" face...hehe. I tried to give all my excuses and convince them both it wasn't a good idea and well it didn't work. My mom added "What would it hurt to apply?" "Apply, see if you get in and then make the big decisions."

So after some long, long hours of sleepless nights (I HATE when my brain won't settle down), prayers, many hours of Wayne and I talking about it, talking to the school etc. I finally decided that maybe it was a good idea to apply. What about all my reasons not to go to NB?

-the commute sucks but it's a pretty easy drive, and if the weather is bad there is family and friends that I can crash their pad for a few nights.

-I would be gone in the morning at 7:30 and be home by 5:30, so really it's like having a full time job. (This still makes me VERY sad because I have been blessed to stay home with my boys for the last 5 years and to think of not being there ALL the time for them kills me. But this is where the sacrifice comes in, if I give up these next 2 years (which we all WILL adjust) I will have a career and be able to work just a few days a week and then be home with my boys for the rest of the week)

-the program is the EXACT same program as Siast, in fact the teachers are trained through Siast. But in NB the program only accepts 14 people compared to 25 people in S'toon.

So this weekend Wayne and I took the boys and headed down to NB to apply for the program. This was the last year that NB was doing the "first come, first served" requirements and next year it changes to "high demand" like the rest of the province. I decided that I would get to the school by 6am and then wait in line...Wayne wasn't sure that was a good idea since it was the last year. So Wayne and I made a plan, the boys and I were going to stay at Wayne's parents house and Wayne & his brother Andy were going to camp out overnight and then if needed get in line till I got there at 6am.

10:45- Wayne arrives at the school and noone else is there.

11:15-Wayne calls to say that a car has just pulled up with 2 girls in it.

11:30-Wayne calls again to say that another car has pulled up and has another 2 girls in it. I could tell that Wayne was anxious and he told me that he wanted me to come in sooner than later. My father in law said that it would be better for me to leave then than drive at 3am when I was tired. My inlaws agreed to watch the boys. I was a little worried that my teething, sick baby was going to keep them up all night which he did from 4-5 and then Grandpa rocked him back to sleep and they slept on the rocking chair....thanks Grandpa & Grandma.

12:30- I got to the school and went to talk with the other 2 cars of girls. I told them both that I didn't want to stand outside (it was FREEZING COLD) until 7:30 unless other people showed up and they agreed. One of the cars told me that they knew of 5 more girls that were coming around 3am, and the other car (a mom and daughter) said they knew that one more girl was coming....so we knew of a total of 10 girls that were going to be there FOR SURE. I climbed in the car with Wayne & Andy and just chilled for a little while, watched a bit of a movie, played with the ipod, laughed at Andrew's adventures with girls, and just talked.

12:48- A car drives by and we all watch to see if it pulls in...it doesn't.
12:51- A car drives by and we all watch to see if it pulls in...it doesn't.
1:01- A car drives by and we all watch to see if it pulls in...it doesn't.
1:15- A car drives by and we all watch to see if it pulls in...it does.
1:23-A car drives by and we all watch to see if it pulls in...it does but only brought coffee for one of the cars.
1:38-A car drives by and we all watch to see if it pulls in....it doesn't.
1:39-Wayne said that he thought that road wasn't a busy one....he's wrong.

3am- There are a total of 9 cars and at least 14 people in the cars (we didn't know how many people were there to apply and how many were there to keep the appliers awake).

3am-4am- Wayne and Andrew have a sleep. I play with the Ipod and watch cars(mostly taxis) drive by.

4am- It's my turn to fall asleep and Andy & Wayne are suppose to stay awake now....they don't....I don't fall asleep. I was worried that I would fall asleep and either sleep till after 8(the time they were taking applications) or that I would sleep and miss people lining up.

5am-I drive to go to the bathroom (I wasn't freezing my booty off by peeing outside) and while in the nice warm bathroom I put on my snowpants and boots.

5:05am- I didn't want to leave the warm bathroom.

5:25am- Back in the car with the boys...a car drives by and we watch to see if it pulls in....it doesn't.

So to fill you in, the program has space for 14 people, and being that it's first come first admitted meant that the first 14 people in line (as long as they have the required marks and classes) were the 14 in the class.

5:50- A car pulls up to the school and a girl gets out (a girl who wasn't there ALL night) and stands by the door aka...the line.

5:50:15- I look over and people are climbing out of their vehicles. Wayne quickly throws me my toque and mitts, I grab a blanket and I quickly walk up to the school and stand beside the girl. I informed her (remember I was VERY tired from being up ALL night and not sleeping well the night before that) that there were 9 cars with people in them that had been there all night and they weren't going to be happy that she JUST got there and was the first in line.

Everyone that had been in the cars piled out and we all formed a line. There were 12 people applying for the program so far.

6:15- Another person joins the line.

6:17- A car pulls up, looks at the line and leaves...weird. (They left to get coffee before she came to stand in line....she came back to be person #15)

6:18-Two more people joined the line and that was the 14.

6:20-Everyone was visiting/getting to know eachother... I'm super excited because everyone seems really sweet, and fun....it's going to be a GREAT class.

6:30- A secretary for the school came and gave us each a number in the order that we were, wrote down our name and number and told us to go get back in our warm cars.....THANKYOU, THANKYOU!!!!

Wayne left to go relieve his parents and get Andrew to bed.

7:30-People start showing up and stand in line... I felt bad for them for a minute since they had no clue they were WAY too late, but then I remembered how we had ALL been there for hours and made the effort to get the spots we did and I then just felt bad they were getting cold.

7:45-I went to stand in line and let the people know that we had all been given numbers at 6am when we had originally lined up....they weren't impressed.

7:58-I was FREEZING cold (the wind was now blowing towards us and it was freakin' cold)!!! The secretary's stood in the office (which we could see very well) and drank their nice warm coffees, and were just warm.

7:59-That was THE LONGEST minute of my life!!!

8:00-The ladies opened the door and we were let in the building.

8:05- I was registered!!!! #2 in line and the 2nd person they would admit(as long as there aren't issues with my upgrades/Accuplacer) into the program.

I'm SUPER excited to finally be in....well tentatively in. The program starts in February 2011...too long away. Of course, if I still get into the program here in Saskatoon I'll be going there but at least I know that I will be in somewhere. It also has taken such a HUGE weight off my shoulders... I don't have to upgrade anymore!!! But not only upgrade but I don't HAVE to get crazy high marks. I'm still going to finish my Math class, and I'm still going to get as high as I can but that stress that came along with it is gone. What relief.

I am BEYOND exhausted today but I'm elated to be able to see the light at the end of the very long and stressful tunnel. It's made all the hard work, worry, tears worth it. WOOHOO!!!!

Christmas Morning ~Part Two~

2010-01-16T16:07:00.002-06:00

After we open gifts from Santa everyone plays while Dad (and whoever helps) makes Christmas breakfast. After breakfast we all go downstairs to where the "family" gifts are (I love it this way because it breaks up the gift opening frenzy). I am sad because once downstairs I got distracted and I didn't get ANY pictures of the boys opening their gifts. I was hoping Dad or Lisa had caught some pictures but they haven't sent me any (HINT-HINT)!!!

Mom & Dad's real tree...it was HUGE and thick and BEAUTIFUL!!! When we first got to the house I walked down the stairs and could smell it... the mixture of pine and burning firewood...ahhhh...FABULOUS!!!

Getting ready to hand out gifts.

Love my Dad.

Beth Skyping with her family.

Mom showing Nate where Beth's family lives.

Lisa, I had a picture of you that is REALLY beautious and I won't post it as long as you get me the rest of the pictures...hehe.

So I missed all of the gift opening at this point. :(

The boys in their pj's that Auntie Beth made for them...super cute!!!

Cuddling and watching a movie!! This only lasted for a few more seconds and then they were off and running again.

This was a few days later but Rylan looked so cute sleeping in the big boy bed.

Christmas Day ~Part One~

2010-01-16T15:06:00.005-06:00

Christmas morning my boys woke up at 7am (Alberta time) but we hung out in our room till 8 and then the 3 of us went and climbed into bed with Grandma & Grandpa. A little while later Ethan woke up and we decided to get opening gifts.

Grandma reading Santa's response to the kid's letter.

Rylan's stocking gift!!!

Instantly in his mouth... ALWAYS!!!

Nathan opening one of his stocking presents.

Opening gifts from Santa:

Steven's "New" PS

Dad opening his gift

& his new silver dollar

Eating ANOTHER toy

Eli had been up sick ALL night (it wouldn't be a Butler Christmas without someone having the flu) so he and Russell joined the party later on.

Christmas Eve

2010-01-16T11:45:00.001-06:00

This year we spent Christmas with my family. Everyone, minus Karalee's family, was there and we had SUCH a fun time. I LOVE spending Christmas with all my family especially now that we have little ones to share in the excitement. (This is going to be a post of pictures).

Lisa & Steven

Doesn't Dad look excited..hehe.

LOVE my boys!!!

How cute is Ethan?!? :)

We tried to get a picture of all the boys cudded up in their Christmas PJ's but Eli found a spot on the floor and wouldn't move from it...hehe...so this is what we got.

Then it was time to do the Nativity...haha.. YA RIGHT!!! It was bedtime for the littles, Ethan&Eli, and they wanted NOTHING to do with being the Wisemen/Shepard. It was HILARIOUS... their parents would put on the headgear and before they let go the headgear would be coming off. Nathan got dressed as Joseph and Grandma asked him who he wanted to be Mary? "Grandma" was his response. Nathan, Grandma and Baby Celeste got in position, Ethan&Eli ran around like crazy monkeys, Wayne tried to get Rylan to be the Star, Rylan ate the Star... it was LOUD, CRAZY, parents were getting frustrated, Grandpa was told to just read the scriptures QUICKLY, I was laughing... it was the BEST Nativity EVER!!!!

Reindeer food and Sparkles were sprinkled on the snow outside so the reindeer would know where to land. A letter was written to Santa, cookies, chocolates & milk were put out for a hungry Santa to enjoy and kids were quickly sent to bed. It was SUCH a fun/crazy night but the PERFECT Christmas Eve in my opinion.

So fun!!

2009-12-08T18:32:00.003-06:00

This is so fun to do. My sister Karalee sent us the link and had made a video for Nathan. Wayne then went and made a video for Nathan, himself & me. Nathan LOVED it and couldn't stop talking about what Santa said to him. I watched my video later on and it seriously made me feel special...like Santa was talking to me.

So here's the link: Santa video

The verdict is in....at least for now.

2009-12-02T16:50:00.003-06:00

So if you've been reading this blog for a while you may know my little saga with Siast and trying to get into Nursing. If you haven't been reading or forgot here's what has happened so far: In the beginning, update, update #2

So I thought everything was good, but then I received a letter in the mail... Siast is changing their requirements for entrance into the program. The "old" way was if you had the core classes and your average was above 65% then you were put on the "list", so first come first served. Well now that the Practical Nursing program is a high demand program they have changed the requirements to highest average of the core classes gets in first (which makes sense but sucks for me). At first I didn't think that was a big deal because I had all my classes, my average was good, and I had challenged my Math so I was good their too... Ummm no. Because of the new requirements the Accuplacer (the exam that I challenged my Math and was fine the old way) is no longer valid for this program and so I have to take my Math.

I found out this information too late to take my Math this semester so I just hoped and prayed that I would get in this year and not have to worry about upgrading my Math. I reapplied and was told that I would know by the end of November whether I got in or not. Well November came and went and nothing. Yesterday I called and got the person's answering machine. Uggg...waiting all day for her to return the message was horrible. Today I was going to be gone for most of the day, so first thing this morning I called the lady.

She had gotten the information from the school people for who was in or not just last week and is sending out the acceptance/didn't make it letters today. I finally just asked if I didn't get in where I am on the waiting list. She looked and said that she thinks I am in the top 15. OHHHHH MAN!!! I asked her if she thought there would be any hope that being in the top 15 I would get in this year. She said that some years a lot of people decide drop out of the course but because of the new criteria next year she doesn't expect many people to drop out this year. :o(

I'm sad, actually really sad, but at least I can now figure out what to do next. I don't want to have to upgrade my Math, I would have done that a year ago if I had known what was going to happen. Just because I haven't gotten in now doesn't mean I won't this year, but my chances are slim to none. But the most thing that makes me sad is that I have to miss a good chunk of time at night away from my boys. :0( I know that when I'm in school I will miss a lot of them, but missing them now sucks because I could have already had this class done. I know that it's worth it, and in the long run this is what is best for our family, but it just SUCKS!!!!

I know that everything happens for a reason. I really do believe this but right now it's hard to be okay with that. Oh well...tomorrow I will be registering for the Math class and hopefully I'll pass with high marks to pull my average up even higher and then I guess we will just wait and see.

If I don't get in again next year I am going to start taking some of the classes in the program like, Anatomy & Physiology and Sociology. Every one of these classes I take, if I pass, can be used to help raise my highschool average by 1%/class. So I can add a total of 6% by the time I'm done the classes that I can take beforehand. Plus, then I will be done those classes and won't have to take them once I'm in the program.

Okay, enough of my ranting... I'm feeling more at peace with this now. Now I just hope I can get into the Math nightclass.... cross your fingers for me PLEASE!!!!

Growing up too quick.

2009-11-08T20:15:00.007-06:00

Today in Primary Rylan was laying beside me on the floor on his back while I played the piano. I looked at him a few minutes later and he was on his tummy...ummm..how did that happen!?!? :)

Then tonight Wayne was playing with Rylan and Rylan kept trying to roll and reach for the toy Wayne was holding, but his stinkin arm kept getting in the way. Well, Nate was tired of watching so decided he could be of help and teach Rylan how to do it. This is what I caught:

(Sorry about the quality...we don't have much light in our living room)

Wayne and Nathan left to go do something else, and Rylan was talking like crazy so I pulled out the camera again and I'm glad I did because I caught this:

I'm not sure if I am ready for this next stage...

#1-I can't believe Rylan's already big enough to be rolling. :(

#2-We REALLY need to baby proof this house, and quickly.

2009-10-22T13:52:00.001-06:00

" I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes. I'm out of control sometimes and hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." ~Marilyn Monroe

That's all I have to say...hehe.

(Thanks Becki for posting this, it's a gooder)

My new favorite picture!!!

2009-10-04T21:38:00.004-06:00

Isn't he just a doll?!?!

A little yummy hint.

2009-10-04T20:54:00.003-06:00

So I have a yummy little somethin somethin to tell ya...

SPINACH!!!!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Remember this

Well, I still like to have my "swamp" smoothies (that's what Nate named them, hey, whatever helps him to drink it I'm totally okay with it). We usually have at least 1 bag of spinach in the house (bought from Costco for less than $4/bag).

I know, I know....it's not like I am the first to figure out that it's a great idea to put veggies into things . But I get tired of having salad or cut up veggies with EVERY meal so throwing in some veggies in different places is exciting to me. I LOVE to throw some spinach in soups, scrambled eggs, quiches, stirfry (at the VERY last second, like when you are pulling the stirfry off the stove), sauces, really ANYTHING!!!

I don't really like the taste of frozen spinach...to me it has a weird taste to it, but fresh spinach is soooo yummy and it cooks down SOOOOO easily.

Tonight I made spaghetti and meat sauce and threw in 4 BIG handfuls of spinach and not only did it make the sauce look prettier but it added to the yumminess!!! :0)

Beautiful moments.

2009-10-01T21:43:00.010-06:00

There are moments in my life that I WISH I could take a breath and pause everything and somehow take in every smell, movement, sight but mostly the feeling and then I'd want to breathe and to take in the next breath and start over again.

Tonight was one of those moments.

Nate & Rylan had both been put to bed but both were having troubles sleeping. I had just picked up Rylan because he was acting like he needed to burp (which he did) and then Nate asked if I would come and cuddle with him for a few minutes. In my mind I quickly debated just telling him to go to sleep or cuddle....

My heart won.

So I laid down with Rylan in between Nathan and I. Nathan was lying on my arm and had his one arm wrapped around Rylan. We layed there for a few moments and then the sweetest, most beautiful thing a Momma could see happened...

Nate's teeny tiny hand came up and his tiny little finger slowly started tracing circles on Rylan's face. I layed there and watched as the loving/sweet circles continued, and I was amazed as Rylan's eyes slowly got heavy and then closed. I quietly whispered to Nate that Rylan was sleeping and Nathan popped his head up to see for himself, which of course woke Rylan up again...hehe. I whispered that we needed to stay calm

The little finger started it's gentle circles again....this time moving down to Rylan's nose. I knew that I should put the baby to bed and get Nate to sleep but my body wouldn't move, maybe because my heart was too full. All I could do was lie there and watch as my sweet sons shared a moment with me a moment of selflessness, a moment of tenderness, a moment of love

I cried.

My head finally won over my heart and I told Nate that it was time to go to sleep he informed me that when I picked up Rylan I needed to "tickew his nose because he yikes it" I kissed Nathan goodnight and as I lifted Rylan to my chest

I tickewed his nose because he yikes it.

My INCREDIBLE Family.

2009-09-26T16:38:00.003-06:00

What can I say?!?! I love these guys more than life itself!!!

LOVE this picture!!!

This was Nate's idea.

Yay...we all look kind of normal.

Oh these 2 kill me!!!

Okay, this kid is hilarious....I am happy if we can get 1 "normal" picture out of 20 pictures because this kid believes he is a model....do you think I take too many pics?

Can you tell he loves his Daddy???

Itty Bitty's turn.

My 3 studs!!

Ahhhh....how can you not want to kiss this face??? Boogers/drool and all.

Oh Nate!!

2009-09-06T09:20:00.002-06:00

Nathan and Rylan were laying on my bed (I was in the other room) and Rylan was cooing to Nate. Rylan started fussing and I overheard Nate say in the sweetest voice....

Nate-Rylan, if you're sad all you have to do is say a prayer. Ya, that's right, you just have to say a prayer to Jesus and then you will be happy. Sometimes if you have a nightmare you can say a prayer too and then you won't be scared. Otay?(that's how he says okay and I LOVE it). Otay buddy???

Rylan-oaooooagohhaoogggg

Nate-Just have to say a Jesus prayer and then everything will be otay.

Awwww.....I LOVE how Nate is already trying to teach Rylan the things that are important to Nate. Plus, it's pretty cool to know that what we are teaching Nate he actually hears. He's such a sweet boy and I love him like CRAZY!!!!

Doing a test.

2009-08-17T15:26:00.002-06:00

Plus, I LOVE this picture of my sweet nephew Eli!!!

2009-07-20T15:08:00.006-06:00

Every once in a while I will be looking through my pictures on my camera and think "Where the heck did these pictures come from?" or "Why did I take a picture of/like that?"
Here's some of the pictures that I am talking about....

Was I taking a pic. of my new rocking chair??

Or spying on my neighbours?

Maybe practicing my Depth of Field!!!

???

Whoops, cut off his head

That's a little better...lost the legs but that's okay, who needs those anyways. I love this picture though because Rylan has THE scowl and I am sure he's thinking "What the heck are you doing?"

Hmmm...this might be a clue.

Love this one...Rylan's joining in on the fun.

Little feet????hmmm.....

Ohhh...could it be???

It's NATHAN!!!!!

What's with the smiles buddy??? hehe.

This kid cracks me up!!!

2009-07-20T14:45:00.003-06:00

Nathan is such a WONDERFUL big brother. When I was pregnant I wasn't too sure how Nate would adjust to this new role of his but he has been phenomenal. He LOVES Rylan more than anything. He loves kissing, hugging, bugging, tickling, kissing, talking to, kissing, holding, rocking, kissing, cuddling, kissing, loving, oh did I say kissing his little brother? In fact, I am surprised how much Nathan (being a tough and sometimes too rough little boy) has been interested in Rylan and willing to help with anything I need (when it comes to Rylan). I couldn't have hoped for anything more from him....he's been great!!!

Cuddles after bedtime stories

Nathan babysitting & showing his Leapster to Rylan

Nathan yelled to me "Mommy, Rylan's cuddling me" :)

Rylan falling asleep, what a good babysitter!!!

Nate telling Rylan a story, this was when Rylan was only a few days old

Nathan, You ROCK!!!!

Nate's last day of Preschool 1.

2009-07-20T13:53:00.005-06:00

This last year has been a LOT of fun with Nate going to Preschool. He goes to a cooperative preschool so I've been able to be parent helper quite a few times and Daddy got to go once, which Nate LOVED. It was so much fun seeing the change in Nathan over the year and watching him grow and develope both socially and scholastically. We are so proud of our big boy!!!

For the last day the kids had learnt quite a few songs and poems that they performed for us including, Baby Bumblebee (this is my favorite song ever I think) and a bunch more.

After the program Nathan's teacher, Mrs. Christiansen, gave all the kids a little memory book with some of the fun things they've done over the year.

The preschool had rented a bouncy castle and the kids (boys) had tons of fun crashing into eachother...hehe.
Here the kids are all getting ready to give Mrs. Christiansen flowers.

Nathan & Mrs. Toni Christiansen (she was AWESOME, Nathan loved her and we are sad because she isn't teaching next year)

BTW, I know the posts for the next little while should have been done a while ago but oh well...they are getting done now. :)

2009-07-20T13:32:00.002-06:00

So I've started a new blog Pretty Shabby and would LOVE it if you took a little wander over that way to check it out. It's just in the VERY beginning stages, I would like to decorate it up my own style and add way more posts but I'm excited about it.

Can you get any sweeter?!?

2009-07-08T23:43:00.003-06:00

This video is self explanitory (is that how you spell it?), and to this Mommy Nathan can't get ANY sweeter.... I LOVE the very end.

Our little angel baby!!!

2009-06-06T22:40:00.005-06:00

On May 30th (my due date, thankyou baby) our sweet little angel boy joined our family.

The story (this is going to be long but I want to write it down while I remember all the little details..): **Most of the pics in this post were taken by my friend Jen**

Wayne and I stayed up late Friday (29th) night with Darryl & Juanita (Wayne's brother & brother's girlfriend) watching a movie, in fact we stayed up till 2am. I know, stupid, and I actually thought at 10pm that I should go to bed but didn't. So at 2am we went and climbed into bed and almost instantly I felt a "weird" pain

....hmmm....

then 5 minutes later another weird pain...

"Wayne. What time is it?"

W-"2:13"

5 minutes later...ummm.... "Wayne. What time is it?"

W-"2:18"

Me-"I think I might be having contractions."

Another 5 minutes went by and the pain was there again.. "OH CRAP!!!!"

So I layed in bed for a while and since I couldn't see the clock and couldn't time the contractions I got up and finished packing my hospital bag and Nate's sleepover bag. I then wanted to keep busy so I showered and did my hair and makeup (have to look good while pushing the baby out...HAHA...ya right, my hair was in a ponytail before we left the house) The contractions were then about 3-5 minutes apart and 45seconds-1.5 minutes long and hurt enough to make me stop and focus through them but really they weren't CRAZY bad. I decided to call the doctor on call and had a contraction through the conversation and was told to come in.

4:30am- I woke up Wayne and told him it was time and then Wayne got Nathan up and ready to go. I called my parents and Wayne called his parents, both sounded oddly awake like they were excited or something to get "this" call. On the way into the city there were 2 BEAUTIFUL rainbows that helped keep my focus while I tried to stay focused.

Sitting in the car was NOT fun because sitting was NOT comfortable at all, but I didn't want to scare Nathan or let him know that I was in pain so I tried to stay SUPER calm.

(This was while I was having a contraction... I look really happy don't I..haha)
We dropped Nathan off at Auntie Jen's and then headed to the hospital, the contractions were still 3 minutes apart but closer to 1.5 minutes.

5:00am- Wayne dropped me off at the Emergency room doors and then quickly went to park. I had a contraction right before entering the hospital and quickly was surrounded by 2 EMT's and a security guy.... I felt REALLY special. We were quickly admitted and headed upstairs to assessment.

5:30am- I layed down in the bed to get hooked up to the monitors, and a few minutes after the nurse left the room I suddenly had an urge to push. "OH CRAP" I sent Wayne to get the nurse because I really didn't want to deliver a baby on my own. The nurse VERY quickly came into the room and checked my cervix.... 5-6 cms. I must have scared the nurse because I was moved to Labor & Delivery RIGHT then...in fact, I think within 5 minutes I was over to the other wing.

5:45-11:45- I tried incredibly hard to focus and control the INTENSE urge to push. The nurses informed me that if I pushed while I wasn't fully dilated that I could cause some major problems and make delivery a LOT harder. I climbed into the shower and Wayne tried to keep the water spraying on ONE spot while I swayed back and forth.... you would think his hand eye coordination was better but he needs some practice. The shower felt really good but the urge to push was still REALLY strong...in fact I don't remember really feeling the contractions because I really was just trying not to push. I then climbed in the jacuzzi which was FABULOUS and in between contractions I actually almost fell asleep. I then got out of there and went back into the room. My nurses were wonderful and kept saying how great I was doing, that I could do this, that I was strong...etc. etc. I got to the point that my body just started to push on it's own and then I was FIGHTING off the urge. I decided at this point that I was done... I NEEDED an epidural... not because I was in SOOOOO much pain but because I was so scared that I was going to hurt myself and cause problems. The nurses gave me the mask thingy that has some drugs in it and I thought I was going to suffocate myself... I was sucking those drugs in as HARD as I could and nothing was happening. After a while the nurses put some medicine into my IV, whatever it was made me feel loopy but still didn't help with pushing. Finally, the anesthesiologist came into the room and I was in heaven.

Noonish- The drugs started working and the urge "subsided" so I sent Wayne off for lunch. Wayne's family arrived and we chat for a while. They all left the room so I could be checked again and I was only 7cms.... SOOOO DEPRESSING!!! I used the excercise ball for a while to help get baby moving down and after a while the doctor came in to see how things were going. She realized that baby was facing the wrong way (baby's nose is suppose to be facing the bum and baby's nose was facing my belly button)...ohhhh...that's why I've been wanting to push and things have been feeling soooo different. So the nurses had me get up on my hands and knees to try to get baby to flip over.....didn't work. I was starting to feel the contractions again and the urge to push returned. Transition phase things started happening, including the fabulous puking that I do ohhhh so well.

2:30- My parents FINALLY arrived..hehe.. The doctor came back in to check me since I REALLY needed to push again and told me I was only 9 cms and NOT to push. She left the room and during my next contraction baby's heartrate dropped. The doctor instantly came back in and checked me again and suggested we do a test push...so I pushed and she decided that we were going to go ahead and get this baby out. She informed me to be prepared because since baby was facing the wrong direction that it was going to be a LOT harder to push baby out, but after hearing that my baby could be in trouble I didn't care what it took or how much energy....I was going to do EVERYTHING to get baby out.

3:04-I started pushing. The nurses and doctor were awesome....Wayne was WONDERUL, but kept petting me..hehe. I should add that Wayne was INCREDIBLE the whole time...he did EVERYTHING I needed him to do... hold my hand, get away....can you get me some water, no ice, no water....rub here, don't touch...but he mostly just gave me the look like, you can do this and it REALLY helped...he was the PERFECT partner and coach. I don't really remember a whole lot at this point other than trying to find that perfect spot to push but I do remember seeing the head doctor come into the room and the vacuum was started up. I pushed a few more times and then I heard the nurse say "He's right there Jackie, RIGHT THERE." I waited for that last contraction and out HE came. The dr. told me later on that while baby was crowning and right before that last contraction she watched his little head turn all the way around and baby then came out the right way....why didn't he do that 6 hours earlier?!?! :)

3:17- They took our sweet baby instantly away to the warming table, not onto my chest, not where I could see him but away from me. I held my breath waiting for that little squeak of a cry...nothing. Then in walked the Neonatal nurses/dr..... my heart stopped beating! I asked my dr. if everything was okay and she said that baby just had a hard time coming out. Still no crying. I looked at Wayne as if he could make it all better and the look of fear is all I saw. That's when the tears started and all I could do was pray out loud that he was fine...please be fine. I don't know how long it really was, but it felt like eternity until finally we hear the faintest noise but boy was it THE most beautiful noise I have ever heard. After a few minutes the nurse finally brought me my beautiful baby and everything was fine... HE WAS PERFECT!!!!

So I would like to FINALLY introduce our sweet angel baby:

Rylan Jack Shutra
9lbs 6oz
23 3/4 inches long

He is a WONDERFUL baby and has already brought soooo much happiness to our family. It's amazing how much we all love him already and it feels like he's ALWAYS been here.

Late night blogging.

2009-05-25T01:24:00.002-06:00

So, right now it is almost 2am and I am awake. Would I like to be asleep?...For sure, but there is a little boy in the room next to ours (Nate) who is NOT having a good night which means this Mommy gets to have a bad night too... oh JOY!! :)

My poor boy Nate has had the horrible luck of having growing pains for the last few years and even though they aren't all the time when he gets them it REALLY sucks!!! The growing pains will sometimes happen and we might have clues that they will be happening when he starts eating like a crazy man and showing signs of growing. However, sometimes (like tonight) they will come out of nowhere...no growing signs, just pain.

I remember having growing pains when I was a little kid and they were horrible (Wayne had them as well)....and now to have my little one go through them is sooooo not fun. The poor little guy will go from sleeping to screaming and when you rub his leg/s the muscles can be as hard as a rock (like a charlie-horse) or sometimes they just hurt. All we can do for him is gently rub his legs, wrap them with a warm rice bag, and if they are REALLY bad we will give him Tylenol.

So right now our poor little guy has both legs wrapped with a rice bag, has had a dose of Tylenol, a good rub, and is trying to fall back asleep and until he does this Mommy will just wait. I've learnt that going to sleep before he is in a deep sleep on nights like this isn't worth while because he can be crying and needing me every 5 minutes until he gets past the worst part of them. So I figured, this is one of those things that even though it sucks I would like to remember that we went through it when Nate was younger.

Do you see it?!?!

2009-05-21T23:44:00.003-06:00

That little ticker over there as I am writing this says 9 days left!!! WOOHOO!!!! That means at the VERY most 19 days left...woohoo!!!

Like I've been saying so much lately, it is a very bitter/sweet time for me right now. I can't wait to finally meet this little angel that has been growing, and growing, and growing in me for the last 9 months. I can't wait to smell, kiss, hold, and love my sweet little angel. But, again, I don't want to ever forget all the little movements, the "secret" moments that the baby and I have together when noone else knows baby is awake but me, and just being THE ONE that is responsible for the well being of this sweet little spirit.

So for the next....possibly 19 days.... I am going to savour every sweet moment of this pregnancy, even the aches and pains. In fact, it was funny the other day I was having some good little cramps but rather than being like any other typical 9month pregnant woman that would be doing jumping jacks, I layed down in my bed.... I just wasn't quite ready to be done.

9 days... CRAZY!!!!!

Mommy's Day

2009-05-11T09:56:00.002-06:00

Before I was a Mom, I never tripped over toys
Or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not My plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on.
Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind And my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child
So doctors could do tests. Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night Watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby
just because I didn't want to put her/him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
When I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
Could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling
of Having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel
To feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
Between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
Every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
The joy, The love, The heartache,
The wonderment Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
Before I was a Mom .

-author unknown
(Thanks for sending this to me Jen)

Yesterday was a nice day for 90% of the time. I got breakfast in bed (Frosted Flakes..hehe..mmmm) and then Nate brought in a beautiful card that he had decorated with stickers but my favorites were the Stanley Cup, and Pittsburgh Penguin stickers... LOVE IT!!! My sister Karalee and her family were over and we hung out. I had a MAJOR freakout/breakdown... I'm sorry boys for snapping at both of you and sorry Kar/Dennis for having to be witness to it. Later on I had a nap and then cuddled with Nate and watched cartoons. I was told not to leave the room and when I was finally released I enjoyed a DELICIOUS dinner....yes, all of you that know my husband know this is SHOCKING!!! For you that don't know...

Wayne does NOT cook, ever...
okay that's not true,

sometimes...
VERY rarely

and his specialties are mac n' cheese, perogies and sausage, cereal or hashbrowns. But yesterday he made homemade burgers and they were REALLY, REALLY good, better than I've ever made. He called his Grandma to see how to make them properly and then informed me not to ask him to make them again because he had already forgotten how to do it..hehe.. I reminded him that he could call his Grandma again...WOOHOO!!!! After supper, Nathan served me the dessert he had made, vanilla pudding...very yummy! We chilled for a bit and I talked to my ADORABLE, FABULOUS, BEAUTIFUL, INCREDIBLE, WONDERFUL Mom and then my boys kicked my butt at the game Sorry, you think they could have at least given me a chance...hehe.

All in all it was a fabulous day... thankyou!!!

Ok, I need your help....please!!

2009-05-05T20:28:00.002-06:00

I've been trying to make some food to freeze or have ready when this baby comes along but I am stumped on what to make. I was trying to think of the food that I take to people that need a meal but it's usually the same thing...lasagna.

So what do you take to people that need meals, whether it be because they've had a new baby, had surgery, or just even need a meal????

I would LOVE to hear all suggestions...including side dishes, desserts, treats, anything to help us get prepared for this next phase of our life!!! :)

WHAT?!?!

2009-05-01T13:38:00.003-06:00

We are now officially under the 30 day mark...only 29 days left....AGGHHH!!!!

Actually, I am SOOOO ready to meet this baby NOW. Yesterday we had our ultrasound and being able to see in detail the arms, hands, nose, legs, etc. made me want my baby NOW. I can't wait to hold baby in my arms, examine EVERY little detail as long as I want to, cuddle baby, nurse, everything, I just can't wait to be a mom of 2!!!!

WOOHOO!!! Only 29 days left!!!!

Baby #2

2009-04-27T22:59:00.005-06:00

This pregnancy has been quite challenging but SUCH an incredible blessing.... our little miracle baby. Sometimes I forget what we had to go through to get to this point and last night as I layed in bed feeling horrible(sick) I started to think about how grateful I REALLY am. I am soooo grateful to be pregnant, to be growing this sweet little angel in my tummy, and to have this opportunity to bring another little spirit into this world....thankyou sooo much Heavenly Father.

Since we are quickly running out of time before this baby will be joining our family and the craziness REALLY begins, I thought I would write down some things that I have enjoyed/not enjoyed this last 9 months.

Enjoyed:

-feeling the baby moving in my tummy, I LOVE all the movements, the twitches, the stretching, the rolling, the hiccups

-actually being able to feel the little "parts" of the baby, tonight I felt the toes and OF COURSE had to tickle them, which caused the baby to pull back and then kick me super hard..hehe. I have felt my fair share of elbows, knees, bum, head, fingers tickling, back, everything and I love playing guess that part.

-seeing the baby at the ultrasounds from the first one that just was a blob and heartbeat(oh how BEAUTIFUL that heartbeat was that day). We actually have our last one (hopefully) on Thursday and I can't wait to see how big baby is going to be, and just the changes it's gone through over the last few months...plus, we are hoping to find out (finally) what gender the baby is going to be.

-talking with the baby... I LOVE to talk to the baby, ask it when the heck it's coming out, tell it how my day is going, tell it how excited I am for baby to meet it's big brother, sing to it, anything that I feel like saying to baby

-going through this experience with Nathan. It was wonderful to go through my 1st pregnancy with Wayne but there is something so special about experiencing it with my son and husband. Nate has been soooo cool through this whole thing. He has understood that at times Mommy just feels like crap and needs to lay on the couch or in bed for a while. He knows that a baby is in my tummy and he already loves this baby so much. He LOVES to give baby hugs and kisses, and most nights/naptimes when we are reading, he wants to cuddle with "baby"/my belly. He LOVES feeling the baby move and comes up with the most funny reasons why baby is squirming, like baby wants a cookie, or baby says it needs to go pee..etc...hehe. His attention/noticing other people's baby has been amazing to me... he always wants to hold the babies and when holding his cousin Farrish last week I loved watching him stroke her hair, hold her hand, kiss her, he was just soooo wonderful and it made me soooo excited to see how he is going to be with HIS own baby.

-the attitude/personality this baby already has. This baby knows what it wants already and wants it NOW. If baby wants it's back/butt rubbed it will push out like crazy till I finally rub it, and once I do and baby is satisfied then it relaxes. But when it doesn't want to be touched the feet start kicking and baby lets me know FOR SURE that it's done, and if I don't stop then the feet move up to the ribs and that's the end of that...hehe. It will be interesting to see if this baby comes out being a fiesty one from the get go...oh dear to have 2 kids that are sooo strong-willed...ai, ai, ai.

-other than being sick I've been really quite comfy...there's been the pain here and there but for the most part I have been truly blessed to be in very little pain.

Don't enjoy:

-The WORST part of this pregnancy has definately been the feeling sick almost ALL the time. These last few weeks have been really bad as I haven't been able to sleep because I've been so nauseous and puky.

-People asking me if I am SURE that it's not twins...thankyou, I really appreciate you hinting that I am HUGE!!! Oh wait, I am huge (I'm measuring 3 weeks bigger than I am), but still I don't want to hear it.

-Getting stuck in bed. You know the times when you've been laying in one position and the big belly just won't get out of the way?!?! No? Oh.... well, Nate has had to push me a few times to help me get some momentum to get up.

-Swelling....oh my. When my sister Lisa was pregnant over the summer she swelled up SOOO much and I felt so sorry for her, then I got pregnant and I guess it was my turn. It is amazing to see my little hands looking like balls with sausages on the ends, and my feet, oh boy, they are sooo big sometimes that the ONLY shoes that fit are my flip-flops...this wasn't a good thing when there was still snow on the ground.

-the knowledge that this baby HAS to come out and the memory of how it's going to feel/happen. I definatley am not uncomfortable enough yet because I am NOT ready to give birth. Nathan has been really interested in this process, and we've been able to have some good talks about where babies REALLY are in my tummy and how they really come out. The other day he said "Mommy, the baby is going to come out of your vagina, right?" I said." Yep." He said, "Oh man, that's going to hurt!!" Yes, little buddy, it really is...hehe.

-feeling like someone has kicked me between the legs every once in a while...not a fun feeling.

-knowing that this is coming to a quick end and this could very possibly be the last time I am ever pregnant again. This is probably THE biggest reasons why I don't want this baby to come yet, I would LOVE to be pregnant forever.

-not being able to do everything I want to physically, including walking more than a few feet at a decent pace....I can't wait to get my body back.

Less than 5 weeks to go, I am EXTREMELY excited to finally meet this little creature that has been boarding in my tummy for the last 8 months.

2009-04-24T21:21:00.002-06:00

My dear sweet husband came home tonight with this:

I have been wanting one for SOOOO long and Wayne was able to get this one which is 6 quarts....WOOHOOO... I would have been happy with a 4.5 quart one.

Of course, I HAD to play with my new toy tonight and made my favorite cookies, and I would love to share the recipe with everyone.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

5 cups blended oatmeal
2 cups butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
3 cups chocolate chips
1-8pz. Hershey bar (grated)
3 cups chopped nuts, or 1.5 cups nuts and 1.5 cups coconut(this is what I normally do)

Measure oatmeal and blend in blender till fine powder. Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar and nuts/coconut. Place on cookie sheets (I usually do tbsp size). Bake for 10 minutes or till just turning brown @ 375.

I have made these with M&M's thrown in as well and they were yummy too.

SO FRUSTRATING!!!!

2009-04-24T08:29:00.002-06:00

Wayne and I decided to do some renovations this year and because baby #2 is coming, well anytime now, we thought "Hey, let's get it all done before baby comes." Sure, great idea. But Wayne and I forgot that we have THE WORST luck sometimes.

This house, which we LOVE, has been owned by quite a few people before us. Unfortunately, these people (whichever ones they are) had NO CLUE how to do certain things properly.

For instance:

Our basement shower wasn't installed properly and so it leaked for probably years. We moved in everything looked great and after a few months a baseboard got knocked off and low and behold.... MOLD. So Wayne and my brother Russ ripped apart the bathroom, cleaned up the mess, and then Wayne and Mark built a new room. Yay, we have a new bathroom. Annoying problem turned into a pretty bathroom. :)

The electrical work in this house, oh boy, my poor husband has been having to fix SOOOO many different issues it's been crazy...but at least our house won't (hopefully) burn down now, and our lighting and electrical looks better. :)

The deck in our backyard was wobbly(scary to stand on because it wobbled so badly) because it wasn't built properly and was totally rotted out, which we didn't know till we started ripping it apart. Now we have a beautiful new deck that is soooo pretty and doesn't shake. :)

There have been other problems but our "favorite" so far happened this weekend. (BTW, I will be posting pictures once everything is done.) On our main entrance stairs we had tile and on the nosing we had a metal piece that unfortunately was sharp and not installed properly and was REALLY dangerous. From the day we moved in Wayne and I wanted to remove the metal because we really have been afraid that someone would fall down the stairs and break/cut their head open. I slipped up the stairs, yes up... it was pathetic, and ripped up a chunk of my toe, ouch. Dangerous. We talked to a couple different trades guys and they both said...if you take it off, hope that there is 1/4 inch piece of plywood that the tile is stuck too that you can remove or it will be a HORRIBLE mess. Guess WHAT?!?!?! They cemented the tile to the subfloor/actual stairs.... AGGHHHHHH, no 1/4 inch piece of plywood!!!!! My sweet husband spent 3 hours grinding down the cement on the part of the stairs that you actually step on but the grinder was too big for the"up" part of the stair. So last night he tried to chip away the cement to make it smooth for HOURS.... all that happened was that he was ripping apart the stairs to the point that we might have to replace the whole stair, expensive and SOOO time consuming. We decided at 3am to just go to bed and hope it was good enough for them to do the stairs this morning.

This morning the flooring guys came in, took one look at the stairs and pretty much said "Not good enough". CRAP. Wayne is not a happy camper and honestly neither am I because I am soooo tired of our house being ripped apart and just want stuff done. So now we have to figure out some way to fix it and get it done well. If only the previous owners had done it properly we wouldn't have this problem, things would be done and we would be happy home owners. :)

The bright side of all the renos is I have BEAUTIFUL new carpet in our basement that is soooo pretty and new.... YAY!!!!

We keep telling this house that it better be good to us because we have been SOOOO good to it. Hehe... Well enough of my vent, hopefully VERY soon I'll be showing you some GORGEOUS new pictures of all the work we've (Wayne's) done.

Another fun survey.

2009-04-20T22:52:00.002-06:00

How old will you turn in 2009? I will be 29....my last year of my 20's!!! :(

Would you date someone 8 years older than you? Not now for obvious reasons.... but when I was single I really thought I was going to date an older man that had kids already...so ya... I think I could have in the past.

What were you doing at 4am? Trying to fall back asleep after being up puking...fun huh!!! :)

What were your first thoughts this morning? Oh man, just 5 more minutes PLEASE!!!

Are you a jealous person? Not normally, but everyone once in a while I can be and it's usually if I am PMS'ing or pregnant... I use to be horrible but my self esteem had been beaten down (a HORRIBLE relationship I was in) and I really didn't think I was worth anything or anyone would REALLY want me. I am TOTALLY past that and know what I am really worth so no... I'm not a jealous person.

Is there anything that has messed up your life? I wouldn't say messed up my life... made me who I am today? for sure, but not messed up my life...

Do you have a best friend? Yes, I have been VERY blessed to have a few BF's in my life.

Where was your default picture taken? I don't think I have a default picture on here, do I?

What is bothering you right now? That my room is "hot" and I can't cool it down....blah.

Is there any meaning behind your profile song? I don't have a profile song.

Do you believe what goes around comes around? Ummm... maybe.

Do you trust people easily? Partially... I might want to trust people and I definately give everyone a chance but you screw up or break my trust and it's REALLY hard to get it back.

One thing you're looking forward to? Holding this sweet baby in my arms.... Seeing Wayne with his 2nd child...Watching Nathan meet his brother or sister for the 1st time.

What was the last thing you drank? Water... at night I have to drink at least 3 cups of water within the hour before I go to bed or I am sick ALL night... the only downfall is that then I have to pee a few times in the night.

Are most of the best friends in your life new or old? New.

Do you like pulp orange juice? I LOVE extra pulp... Wayne HATES pulp, so I usually have to buy one of both.

Which could you tolerate more, a sleep walker or someone who snores? A sleep walker... I can't stand snoring because I am not a deep sleeper and it drives me insane if I am having troubles sleeping and Wayne's having a GREAT sleep... I actually usually poke him until he stops.

Would you ever parachute off of a plane? Yes, I WILL go skydiving once my kids are grown if I can... I should have gone before I had kids, and I don't think that it would be fair to go now....just in case..but once they are grown I would LOVE to.

Is your birthday on a holiday? Depending on the year it falls on Mother's Day.

Do you want to hit something? Ummm...what kind of question is that? NO!!!

Is your ex still in your life as a friend? Ya, I have a few that I have kept in contact with.

Would you ever get a tattoo? I don't think so.

What's your mood? Content.

Who's the last person you hugged? Nathan, always before he goes to bed.

Day been rough? Ya, it was NOT a good day. I was up around 7:30 and by 11:30 I realized that I hadn't felt baby all morning. I poked the baby, pushed it around, drank some cold water, layed down, and finally drank a glass of root beer. Baby still didn't move. I called my dr. and they told me to come in. Not even 5 minutes later the baby moved around a bit. I then called my dr. back and they still recommended me coming in, just in case. I had a non-stress test and baby was still being a bum, the heartrate was staying pretty even, which isn't what they want to see I guess. After 3 juice boxes baby started behaving and the nurse said that baby is just being lazy and having a REALLY good sleep today. That's fine but next time baby, please let me know that everything is fine by twitching or something while you're sleeping. So ya, this morning was not fun.

Is there someone you want to be with right now? Wayne, he's working on things in the basement again though and I will probably be going to sleep before he's done.

Plans for your next birthday? Not to have the baby. Jen & Mark and Russ & Beth will all be out of town and they are the people that Nate will be staying with if we have the baby. So hopefully baby doesn't make an appearance at that time.

Tell me about the shirt you're wearing? It is an orange maternity shirt that Jen loaned me and I LOVE it.

Do you remember who you liked in 7th grade? Oh man, I had soooo many crushed growing up... I really don't remember any specific time frame/guy until Grade 9.

What are you up to this weekend? Putting our basement back together... the carpet will be installed on Friday...WOOHOOO!!!!

How do you vent your anger? I am a yeller, and I am really trying to work on this... and if I am REALLY mad I will start crying (this drives me insane because there have been times that I needed to be mad and needed to be strong and I break down crying). Also, if I am really angry I will say exactly what I am thinking, again this is something that isn't good sometimes.

Can you crack your knuckles? Sure can.

What color is your mouse pad? I am using my laptop right now, and our desktop has a plain black one.

What time did you wake up this morning? Which time? Each time I peed? The time I puked? Or when I actually got up?

How many different people of the opposite sex have you REALLY cried over? Too many that I cried over. But there are only a small handful that I REALLY cried over, or that I had REAL feelings for.

Would your parents be mad if you were in a relationship? Umm... I hope they like that I am married... ;)

What was the last thing you did before you went to bed last night? Snuggled with Wayne, had a drink of water and ate saltine crackers (the same thing I have done for the last 8+ months)

Do you feel comfortable with answering personal questions? Depends on the person that I am telling but usually I am VERY open.

Do you think age matters in relationships? No. Maturity does though.

What will you do after this? Get ready for bed and watch some t.v.

Are you open about your feelings or closed off? Open

What are you listening to? TV.

Are you gonna be home alone tonight? Noppers, I have both my boys here.

Is it okay if you kiss people when you're single? Uhhh... YA!!!! That's the best part of being single...kiss whoever you want...hehe...just kidding.

Would you go in public looking like you do right now? No, I am missing some articles of clothing that might get me arrested if I went out in public....being HUGE and clothing being tight just isn't working for me right now... sometimes my body needs to "breathe".

What's something that can always make you feel better? A hug, kiss

Do you think your best friend and you will be friends in 10 years? Absolutely.

Did you laugh a lot at something today? Ya, Nate makes me laugh every day.

Oh the things kids think...

2009-04-20T20:54:00.002-06:00

My BF Jen and family were over the other day (last post was my ode to Jen & family). Jen and I were talking about how often we need to wax our legs and she put her leg up on Nate's chair to show me how good she was doing. Nate looked at her leg and then said "WOOOOOOHOOOOOO". We laughed sooo hard and Nate turned BRIGHT red...hehe.

Tonight while I was getting Nate ready for bed he said, "Mommy, Jesus has a GRRREAT plan." I said, "Really? What is it?" Nate then said so sweetly," To make Ninja Turtles stop fighting the bad guys." Ummmm.....okay, I guess that's a great plan...hehe...funny little guy.

Man I love my little Nater Pater.

Friends, no Angels!!!

2009-04-19T22:30:00.002-06:00

Remember these guys?!?!

No? Well they have been our angels the last little while.

Wayne and I decided that we wanted to do some renos before baby comes. Great idea right??? WRONG... I am 8+ months pregnant and really relatively useless when it comes to do heavy lifting or ANY of the things that we need to do. So a few weeks ago these guys...

came over and helped my sweet husband get rid of our ugly furniture (I'll post pictures later on, once all the renos are done) and move all of our family room and play room stuff up into our upstairs living room and Nate's room... not fun but needed to be done so we could start with the "real" work (and I say we VERY lightly).

This week Wayne did a bunch of electrical work in the basement, and ripped up carpet and underlay in both rooms. I filled holes/scratches/dents, washed walls, painted trim well the trim around the windows because all the other trim had to come down, but I'll be painting that when we put it back on. Then yesterday, these people....

came over and this woman...

came over and within 3 hours painted the first coat of my family room ALL by herself (and it's not a little room). I am soooo blessed, she is soooo wonderful and SUCH a great friend. I felt pretty pathetic because all I did was sit on a chair in the room, chat with her, take care of her baby sometimes and watch. (Oh I did do what I do best, I fed everyone as well but while I wasn't cooking I felt really pathetic) She did this as a favor to me knowing that physically I could have done the room (it would have taken me 4 times as long) but I would be REALLY hurting right now. Plus, we've painted together before...

and she painted the 3 green walls while I painted the 1 blue wall....hehe...she likes me keeping her company MUCH better than me "helping" her. I think it's like when your kids want to help you and you KNOW it will just be easier to do it yourself...ya... she likes me sitting on the chair...hehe.
Mark and Wayne put together our new BBQ (which I am SOOO happy about) and dealt with our 3 boys.

Then again today Mark & Jen came over again and Jen painted the 2nd coat in 2 hours.

I HATE asking people for help, but Jen didn't even give me a chance to ask...she knew we wanted it done, she asked me what weekend would work for us and she showed up ready to go. I wish there were some way that I could say THANKYOU and I know that we will have the opportunity to pay them back, but I REALLY am soooo grateful for having such WONDERFUL friends who love us enough to help us.

So Mark and Jen.... Thankyou!!! Thanks for giving up your weekend and spending it with us, working. Thanks for being SUCH wonderful people that we have fallen in love with. Thanks for loving us and putting up with all our "differences". Thanks for being SOOO great and helping us make our house more of a home!!! We REALLY do love you both!!!!

Beautiful!!!

2009-04-16T14:45:00.005-06:00

I don't know if you've seen this video yet but it has REALLY got me thinking the last few days.

***This is Susan Boyle. *** (click on the colored words to go to the videos)

She is a contestant on Britain's Got Talent.
Warning: if you watch this video you may find yourself watching it again, and again, and again.

Another video I have really enjoyed for quite a while is of this man,

***Paul Potts***

another contestant on Britain's Got Talent from last year.
(Watch specifically at 2:24 when his face goes from smiling to blank... breaks my heart EVERYTIME)

These are 2 people that before they walked onto that stage had NO IDEA how amazing they are or how they were going to affect everyone that saw them.
Sweet Susan Boyle- When she walked on the stage I thought... Girl, you need some serious help with that hair...I admit, just like everyone else I instantly judged her and was curious to see what kind of trainwreck she was going to perform. I did have a GREAT laugh when she shook her booty though...haha... you go girl!!! But then...
then like one of the judges said, she taught me SUCH a valuable lesson. When she started singing the warmth just flooded my body and ran out with my tears...she was INCREDIBLY beautiful!!! Her voice, as you've heard, was angelic, her determination and belief in herself was sooo intense I couldn't help but fall in love with this funny little poofy haired lady.

Then I had to go and watch Paul's performance. This little phone salesman who made me cry because of his inability to see how amazing he really is and his awkwardness. Seriously, everytime I watch it and see him go from being proud/happy to unsure right after he finished singing sooo amazingly breaks my heart.

After watching both of these amazing performances I thought about a few things:

One...how shallow and judgemental I can be. I know there are times when I will look at someone and judge them because of their outwardly appearance. I also should know by now that this is SOOO wrong and I have been put in my place many times. Some of THE nicest people I have ever met don't look like what is "normal" per the world's standards. Susan looks like one of "those special spirits" that I have joked about in the past and maybe she is a little quirky but who cares...why is it my place to judge her? Oh right, it's not!!!

Another thing is how amazing it is how Heavenly Father has hidden these amazing talents in the most interesting places. Both of these people would NEVER have gotten a 2nd look if they had walked into a normal agency and said "I want to sing for you, because I have an amazing talent." They would have been laughed out of the room. But what an amazing opportunity they have to share their talents and to teach us all a lesson. I really want to stop next time I look at someone and start to judge them and think... I wonder what their hidden talent is?

What's shocked me the most was when watching both of these performances I think that I got a teeny tiny view of how Heavenly Father sees all of us. Here we are on the earth, going about our day to day things, sometimes feeling ugly, awkward, not confident, unsure of ourselves or unsure of the way we are going in our lives. However, Heavenly Father is up there waiting for our performance, and he sees who we REALLY are and sees past all the "poofy hair", self doubt, and sees our talents and knows how TRULY BEAUTIFUL we really are. I wish/hope that I can stop when things seem to be spinning out of control and I am judging myself and see that in myself Heavenly Father has hidden VERY specific talents that are JUST for me. Hopefully I will be able to stop and see how BEAUTIFUL I REALLY AM!!!

What a sight that would be...

2009-04-09T22:52:00.002-06:00

Many of you may know that I drive a school bus...it's been a GREAT job for me for the last few years and has allowed me to stay home with Nate. Well today I decided to take the bus to the compound (a gated area that drivers park their bus in if they don't keep them at their house) so that the bus wouldn't be stuck in front of our house over the Easter break. I was told that the compound would be locked up at 5:00 and so I arrived at 4:40. I drove into the compound, parked, and Nate and I started to walk to the front gate when I saw a car driving away.... ummm... there in front of me was a LOCKED gate!!!

I stood there in shock not sure what to do and then I quickly scanned the gated area to see if there was ANYWHERE that I could squeeze out of...HAHAHA, I quickly remembered that I was 8 months pregnant and squeezing is NOT in my vocabulary right now. :)

Luckily, I had just called my boss a few hours earlier on my cell phone and so I had his phone number.. "Hi Grant, this is Jackie S., ummm... I am locked in the compound!!"
Grant- "You're locked WHERE?"
Me- "In the compound..."
Grant-"How did you do that?"
Me- "Well, I didn't lock myself in here!!!(giggle) I got here....blah, blah, blah..."
Grant- "Oh ...... Umm... well there are spare keys (insert location here) that should open the lock."
Me-"I'll go check and call you back."

Waddle, Waddle, Waddle to said location.
I got the 2 pairs of spare keys and tried...of course (my luck) none of the keys worked.

Me-"Hi Grant"
Grant- "You got out?" At this point I was starting to feel like I was in jail or something.
Me- "No, none of the keys worked."
Grant-"Well I am in Saskatoon and almost home so if traffic is okay I should be there in maybe 30-40 minutes"
Me-**thinking**.... I NEED TO PEE!!! 30-40 minutes.... ahhhhh... I can't go 10 minutes without needing to use the potty. The chainlink fence isn't that high.. I could scale it... oh wait... I'M PREGNANT, nevermind!!!!
Me-"Umm...okay, but please hurry because... well please hurry."

I then called Wayne who told me he was going to bring the bolt cutters and break me out...hehe.. MY HERO!!! :)

Luckily I had brought a toque for Nate because the wind was quite chilly, so I threw that on him and told him to chase the flying leafs which he REALLY enjoyed.

A few minutes after our last phone conversation I had a lightbulb moment.

Me-"Hi Grant."
Grant-"Hi Jackie"
Me-"Is there anyone that lives in Warman that might have a key?"
Grant-"Let me call you back, I'll see."

Not even a minute later my phone rang.

Grant(relieved sounding)-"Hi Jackie"
Me- "Hi Grant"
Grant-"I found someone and they will be there in 5 minutes."
Me & my bladder- "Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou!!!!"

The man showed up, opened the gate, teased me about getting locked inside, visited for a few minutes and then left. Shortly after Wayne arrived to pick us up and all was good again.

But wouldn't that have been a sight watching me and my big belly climbing over the fence..haha.. or even better me doing the BEST pee-pee dance ever while waiting for someone to show up.

Oh, I forgot my favorite part of the story.

2009-03-19T17:58:00.002-06:00

I can't believe I forgot my favorite part of delivering Nate.

After Nate was born and Wayne and I had a few minutes to enjoy him Wayne went out to tell the rest of the family who were in the waiting room. Wayne said that he ran down the hall to where the family "was", ran in the room, yelled "It's a BOY!!!", looked around and realized the room was full of hutterites, not our family!!!! hehe...

He said he just turned around and ran to the other waiting room and made sure it was our family before yelling "It's a BOY!!!" hehe...

That (of course other than having my beautiful boy) was my most FAVORITE part of having Nate!!! hehe.

Already

2009-03-19T09:31:00.003-06:00

Nathan turned 4(!!!!) 2 weeks ago today and I can't stop thinking about how quickly these last 4 years have gone. Last night I was checking out some friends blog's and Andrea wrote a sweet post about her little girl Chelsey and I loved it so much I thought I would "steal" the idea...I hope that's okay Andy.

This little boy...

is such a wonderful, sweet, caring, gentle, smart, stubborn, strong willed child that I love more than anything.

4 years ago:
For 6 weeks I had been dilated 2 cms and was told that at any time our little angel could join our family. NOTHING. So 2 weeks before my due date my dr. and I decided that it couldn't hurt to maybe help things along, again NOTHING. On March 3rd I had a dr.'s appointment and she stripped my membranes again and I actually started having "contractions". I went home and refused to sit down because I wanted SOOOO badly for things to just get stronger and for the baby to come. That night I walked up and down our sidewalk for HOURS (my neighbours must have thought I was insane, I know Wayne and Russ did) and guess what?!? EVERYTHING STOPPED. I was sooo upset and cried about it for quite a while.

March 4th-I got up early, called my dr. who told me to come into the office again and we would try again to get things moving. I had a shower, got ready and left. Wayne came with me because my dr. was adamant about me not driving myself home afterwards. We were walking into the elevator when all of a sudden I felt a gush of water down there (it was only enough to get my pants wet...not cover the floor with water like they show in movies)... at first I thought I had peed myself but then realized what it REALLY was. Once we got up to the office I ran into the bathroom and was soaked, the only thing I had were these teeny tiny maxi pads so I laid 6 in my undies and made a normal size pad...hehe. We were quickly rushed into the dr.'s office and when she went to check me another big gush of water came out, almost hitting her. I was told to go straight to the hospital which we didn't because we didn't have my bag or anything else I needed.

Wayne and I went home got my stuff and then started calling our parents. We got to the hospital and sat for a few hours until they finally determined that my water had indeed broke. I begged the nurses to let me eat something because I KNEW it was going to be a LONG time till I would be able to eat again. After I ate (1:00pm) they moved me over to the delivery room to start the pitocin (my dr. was not messing around and wanted to get things moving). The pitocin was started and we sat and waited. Wayne's mom arrived and Russ arrived a bit later and we just kept hanging out. Around 6:00pm I started to feel something but not even period pains. My family arrived around 8:00pm and we were all having a little party in the room still not even feeling too much. I was at the max. level of pitocin they would give me before needing the dr. to up the dosage and still nothing.

Around 9:00pm I got up to go to the bathroom and a HUGE gush of water splashed to the floor....and then I felt what a contraction should REALLY feel like. I laid back in bed and tried to catch my breath but couldn't because the contractions were LONG, CRAZY STRONG and a minute apart. Everyone was still hanging out in the room and Russ thought it would be funny to videotape me, he thought it would be funnier to say "I guess it's not gas pains now huh?!?" In my mind NASTY things were said and I wanted to give him a double fisted, middle finger salute but I contained myself and ignored him...hehe. After an hour of HORRIBLE contractions and really not being able to breath or get it under control the nurse suggested I get an epidural. (I have found out since that when you use pitocin for delivery that the labor can be quite intense once it starts working...would have been nice to know beforehand.)

I decided to get the epidural and after another almost an hour of contractions the dr. arrived. Once he finally got the needle in I waited for the numbness to arrive. NOTHING. I questioned if he had done his job properly and he said he had and it should be taking the edge off the contractions soon.... I DIDN'T WANT THE EDGE OFF, I WANTED TO BE NUMB!!!! Not my luck (which now I am REALLY grateful for), all that the epidural did was make it so I could breathe through the contractions and relax a little...but I still had to concentrate on breathing and try to think past the pain. It was almost midnight and so my family headed to the hotel, Charlene and Russ and maybe my mom (I don't remember) stayed at the hospital to wait.

At about 2am I started to feel like I needed to poop (yes, I know what that means now), I didn't want to get up though so I ignored the feeling for a while. I finally called the nurse in to take off all the monitor things so I could go to the bathroom. She wanted to check me first and ta-da I was 10cms. She asked if I wanted to try to push and I tried....she instantly stopped me and told me baby was RIGHT there and to try to not push again. UHHHHH ok?!?! You should have seen the nurses scurrying around then, they had thought I was going to take ALL night and even told my delivery dr. to turn off her pager...she won't have the baby tonight. So they were NOT ready for baby to be born and they were truckin it around the room....hehe.

Wayne quickly went to let everyone know it was TIME!!!! His mom came into the room right when I started to feel quite nauseous and held a bowl while I puked...she was sooo good and rubbed my back (probably while gagging) and helped me get cleaned up. My mom came in the room and shortly after my delivery dr. arrived. Wayne's mom left and the dr. took a peek under the sheet....ummmm that would be a head. She quickly took off her coat, put on a gown and gloves and moved into position.

I had a contraction and pushed, baby was crowning..... I had another contraction and a HUGE spray of fluid came shooting out, if my dr. hadn't been quick she would have got shot...hehe. I pushed again and was told to stop and then finally out came this slimy little angel. The only thing I saw was HIS little "area" and I said "It's a boy!!!!" They plopped him on my stomach and I was INSTANTLY in love...he was beautiful cone head, squishy face and all.

This is THE only picture we have on the computer of in the hospital, look how young Wayne looks...hehe. Also notice my coneheaded child...ya that's because he was so low in me for sooo long...he even had a 2 cm bruise on his head where he had been pushing against my cervix...nice hey?!?(That's my delivery dr. holding Nate, notice she still has her sweater on...ya, she didn't have time to change.)

We LOVE our little man and I am SOOO grateful that I get to be a mom. 4 years have gone soo quickly and yet I feel like I've had Nate FOREVER!!!

HOLY CRAP!!!!!

2009-03-12T13:57:00.002-06:00

Wayne and I were talking yesterday about some renos that we are doing and Wayne said how he wants these certain things done before the baby comes. I said that we need to get cracking because we only have 11 weeks... then I said "Well actually, they won't stop the baby from coming after 36 weeks so we could really only have....... 7 +WEEKS!!!!!" (I know, I know... the baby probably won't come that early but I would rather things be done before that date so we don't even have to tempt fate).

I seriously almost started hyperventilating.... I am SOOOO not ready for this baby to come. I am not ready to give birth, I am not ready for the sleepless nights, I am not ready for the amazing amount of time and energy new babies need, we don't even have diapers....aggghhhh!!! (Even now I am starting to freak out).

On the other hand-
I can't wait for that first moment when this baby will be put on my chest
I can't wait to see what the baby looks like, does it have Daddy's beautiful lips? Does it have my big eyes? Will it have hair? Will it have Nate's dimples? Will it look like Nate or totally different?
I can't wait to find out if we are having a little princess or prince
I can't wait to smell OUR baby
I can't wait to kiss OUR baby
I can't wait to be a mom of 2
I can't wait to see what kind of personality this baby will have
I can't wait to bring our baby home, to just start being a bigger family
I can't wait for the sleepless nights, the labour, the lack of energy, because that means that our prayers have been answered and our little miracle will be with us, finally in our arms.

11 weeks really isn't that long.... I can't wait!!!!

I dare you....

2009-03-09T14:38:00.002-06:00

Today Jen (my BF) and I were spending our day together with the boys and decided to go to Market Mall to play in their little play area. After playing for a while Jen wanted to go try on some jeans (she has had her baby and is looking freaking hot). Nathan however did not want to do this and totally freaked out. Finally I took him out of the store to put him in a time out.

I don't know how most other parents deal with their kids (and to each their own) but we put Nathan in a corner somewhere and then I'll stand with my back to him, but right in front of him until he is done freaking out and ready to talk.

So there I was with a 4 year old SCREAMING at the top of his lungs, we were at a store that faces the food court and once I finally got my back to him I noticed about 30 people staring at me. Yes my son was out of control...yes I had my back to him and was ignoring him....yes I was very upset.... Then I noticed not only were the "older" aged people staring but 4 workers were standing obviously staring at me with their arms folded and the look on their faces were RIDICULOUS!!!!! HELLO, can I help you?!?!?

I feel as a parent that you can never do the right thing in others eyes. What were these people thinking??? Were they thinking I am a bad parent for ignoring him? Were they upset that he was disturbing their coffee time? Were they waiting/watching to see if I was going to beat my child? Were they waiting to see what would happen? Were they glad that I was at least dealing with my child? Honestly, I didn't care 1 bit!!!!! But we had a large audience the WHOLE time he had his time out.

I am SOOOO tired of people judging me because I actually discipline my child. When he makes bad choices and then decides to be a complete spaz, he WILL be dealt with... I don't care where we are... I don't care who is around me... he will be dealt with.

I think society is soooo messed up sometimes. People think we shouldn't discipline/spank (I think there are absolutely other ways to deal with a child other than spanking)/deal with our kids but then wonder why kids are SOOOOO messed up, have NO respect for anyone or anything...hmmm I wonder why?

I love Nathan more than ANYTHING, but he is an extremely strong willed child who can definately pull some MAJOR attitude (ask anyone that has spent more than a few hours with him and they will agree)...(I should also add that he can be absolutely sweet, kind and wonderful as well). I am trying my hardest to teach my child that there are rules and we have to follow those rules and when we don't there are consequences. This time out method works the best for both of us... Nate HATES me ignoring him which makes him want to starting making better choices faster and I need to ignore him so I don't snap.

So to all those people in the mall today... I DARE YOU to come over and say something to me, because you might be walking away with a new 4 year old... hehe.

That was just a little vent moment.

All grown up.... :( or :) I haven't decided yet.

2009-02-22T19:03:00.003-06:00

Our little Sunbeam Nathan has SERIOUSLY enjoyed growing up and being in the big primary with all the big kids. I wasn't sure if it was going to be a good thing that I was a teacher in primary and how Nate would act with me there...however, it's been SUCH a blessing. It is so much fun watching how grown up Nate is becoming. He LOVES singing the songs (even though he told me today he doesn't know them and I told him to just try and listen hard so he can learn them) so there he stands singing who knows what but doing it with GUSTO!!! :)

He also wants to be a big helper and whenever one of the adults asks for a helper Nate raises his hand high (lot's of times standing as well) and says "Me, Me, Me!!!"....We have talked about how he needs to make sure he is reverent but still raise his hands so the teachers will pick him, but I still giggle everytime.

I also have a little laugh when he gets picked to answer a question (sometimes I worry what family "secret" he might divulge to everyone..hehe...), he's mentioned how he and daddy like to wrestle, and how he REALLY loves his toys as well as some other random things....sweet and so innocent.

But today I got to see how grown up Nate really is. Nate was asked to share a scripture about families today. Today in primary my little sweet baby, I mean my little boy climbed up to the mic and with Mommy's help Nate explained what the scripture (3 Nephi 18:21) was and then shared the scripture. He did so AWESOME, he spoke right into the mic, said his words as clearly as he could, and repeated everything WONDERFULLY...... I was so proud. In fact, it took everything in me not to shed a few tears because my heart was so full...I couldn't even look at his Daddy(who was at the back of the room) because I knew I would DEFINATELY cry. After Nate was done he quietly got down from the stand and sat reverently on the scripture chair till primary was done. To top it all off our closing song was I AM A CHILD OF GOD..... Oh boy.... start the waterworks. I always have such a hard time not crying like a baby when the primary kids sing this, but then to have to sit there watching my big scripture giver sit at the front of primary like such a big boy singing at the top of his lungs that HE is a CHILD OF GOD, well that just put me over the edge.

So today, my sweet little baby became a big boy in my eyes and in my heart. I don't know if I am ready for it, but it's so nice to see what a WONDERFUL little big boy he is.

HOLY SMOKES

2009-02-20T10:05:00.002-06:00

I can't believe that we are now in the double digits of days till this baby is born!!! AAHHHHH!!!! 99 days!!! It feels like I just got pregnant and in 3+ months we are going to be holding our new little one.... I am NOT ready.

My BF just had her little baby a week ago today (I really should get some pictures of this little angel) and holding him the other day: 1) Made me SOOOO grateful we have just 1 baby joining our family right now...hehe.. 2) Scared to death about the amount of sleep I will be losing 3) Scared to death about bringing another little human into the world and having the responsibility of raising another person to be what Heavenly Father would approve of. 4)Being a mother to 2... I know all of you that have 4+ kids are laughing but this really worries me 5)Going through labor... I hope and pray it will go as well as my friend's labor did 6)If this is the last baby for us, how can I slow down EVERY minute and just enjoy it all.

It's a VERY good thing that the last trimester is so tiring and sore and that woman just can't wait to get that baby out because right now I think I could be pregnant FOREVER!!! :)

99 days.... WHOA!!!

MMM.... wanted to share a yummy recipe that our family LOVES!!!

2009-02-17T22:31:00.003-06:00

So my Grandma Butler, Aunts, cousins and Mom like to try out new recipes ALL the time. If they find a good one then it is quickly sent around to everyone to try out. I don't know who found this recipe but I remember the first time my mom made it and it instantly became a family favorite. Wayne (who isn't a HUGE veggie fan) really likes this recipe so I've made it a few times in the last 6 years. I thought I would share this recipe with all of you 'cause it is REALLY easy, yummy, and you can add any veggies you want.

Veggie Pizza

Start by taking 2 cans of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (not the Jumbo size, and I like using the multigrain ones just cause it makes me feel like it's a little healthier...totally lying to myself though) Press the rolls onto an edged cookie sheet to make the crust.

Follow baking directions on the package and then let cool.

While the crust is cooking make the sauce by mixing:
1 package of cream cheese (I use the lower fat kind, again a little healthier)
3/4 cup sour cream (again lower fat is fine)
1 tbsp mayo (do NOT use Miracle Whip...it will NOT taste the same)
4 tsp. Ranch dip mix (the powdered stuff)

Make sure you get this really smooth, I will start mixing it first with a fork to break it up and then I use a whisk to just get it REALLY smooth. If you start with the whisk first all the cream cheese will just make a HUGE ball in the whisk and it will be a pain to get out, trust me I learnt this the hard way...MANY times..hehe.

Chop up the veggies you want to use in quite small bite size pieces. We usually use brocolli, cauliflower, peppers(I like yellow to add some different colour) and tomatoes (I had to call my mom about this one so don't have them on the chopping board). Again, you can use ANY veggies you want, mushrooms and olives are really good too. You can also grate up a bunch of cheese at this time, I am not sure how much I used but probably 3 cups.

Spread the sauce ALL over the crust.

Spread the veggies all over the pizza and then I like to press all of them down (if you don't the veggies can fall off quite easily when trying to eat them).

Layer the cheese on top.

Enjoy!!!

This pizza needs to be refrigerated when not being eaten. It is VERY filling and I usually can only eat 1 piece, so this lasts a few days for our family.

I hope you like it!!

Shhh...don't tell anyone, but I kinda like these things!!!

2009-01-31T11:31:00.002-06:00

Lately, I have felt like such a blog slacker, but honestly I have a LOT more important things to stress about and haven't really let it bother me too much. However, when I see these list things on other people's blogs I really like them and they are an easy way to get a fun post in every once in a while. So here goes another one....thanks Christal for this one!!!

One thing I won’t let my husband buy me….. hmm...if my husband wanted to buy me anything I would probably be okay with it....maybe bath soap because I have such sensitive skin and he seems to always forget that and just wants to buy the cheapest soap possible....not good enough for this girl.

One thing I would love to have, but I probably will never have……..I would love to have a big family, seriously, 4+ kids (is that even big??) but who knows, this is being left in Heavenly Father's hands.

One thing you will never find in my closet…… overalls...uggg....I think they are SOOOOO ugly, in fact the only person I thought they looked remotely cute on was the Mom on Momma Mia....

One thing I would choose if I were having elective surgery………to get butt implants... I have SUCH a flat bum and would love a little lift....actually after this baby joins us I am going to see if there are workouts that can help with it a little because I REALLY don't like my bum.

One thing I love about my face………..my eyes... for sure. I love my eyes, and if you notice my makeup, my eyes are what I like to draw attention to.

One thing that I love to do…..I LOVE watching Nathan play...he has such a great imagination and the things he comes up with are just amazing to me sometimes. Right now he is playing baseball and will start talking in this deep voice (the announcer) and will announce who is up to bat next... he's just a funny little guy. I also LOVE cuddling in bed with my hubby.

One thing I would like to change if I could………...my thinning hair, one of the potential side effects of my PCOS (fertility problem) is male pattern baldness, and unfortunately over the last few years I have noticed a HUGE amount of hair loss which REALLY upsets me, but I will deal with it if and when the time comes that I start to seriously notice that I am going bald.

One thing I would change as a mom………..I would take the time to stop cleaning, cooking, being lazy and spend more time with Nate... actually this week I have been REALLY trying my best to just be there for Nate when he needs me, not when I have a minute... we have spent a lot of time reading, talking, sledding, walking, cuddling, and just being together...it's been really nice.

One thing I would do if I had unlimited money………..Get all the renovations done on our house that we want done... new fence(this summer), new garage(who knows when this will be done), new countertops, sinks and faucets in kitchen and upstairs bathroom (hopefully this summer), new carpeting downstairs (again, who knows when this will be done), new flooring upstairs, and then finally new furniture. Oh the life of a homeowner. I'm trying to not be wordly because everything we have now is fine and works (just a little ugly), except the fence it has to go, and so we are just saving and when we can we will get things done... we will not go into debt for ANY of these things because I think that is CRAZY if what we have now is fine.

One thing that I will not do again……….ohhh there are a LOT of things from my past that I will NEVER do again...repentance is a FABULOUS thing.

One thing that I would like to do……….travel, actually this is more for Wayne since before he met me he had never left Canada. I would be fine with travelling but have traveled enough before I met Wayne that I would be okay with sticking around here for a while. However, Wayne has the travel bug and would love to go to MANY different places... and if he goes I am going too!!! :)

One thing I could do without………stress... I am a HUGE stresser and am trying to calm down but it's my nature, I worry about everything and everyone. I know it's not good for me, both physically and emotionally and I am really trying to work on it.

One thing I love to smell……newborn baby and their breath, freshly cut grass, fresh rain especially after the grass has been cut, Nathan after he's been playing outside all day (there's just a fresh smell about him, as long as he isn't crazy dirty), sheets that have been dried on a clothesline, the ocean (mmmm when we went to Seattle that smell made me feel so at home).

One thing I would do if I won the lottery……..pay off our house, do our renovations, put most of it into savings or our investments, donate some, put some away for Nate's schooling, go on a shopping spree and travel.

One thing that infuriates me.....stupid drivers(I could go on and on about this one), if 2 cars pull up to a 4-way stop at the same time and stop, the person to the right has the right of way... mean people also really tick me off, I just want to say "Who do YOU think YOU are?" and I have said that to people before in the past.... I am not afraid of saying what I think and I won't put up with bully's AT ALL.

One thing that I love about winter………..I actually LOVE playing outside in the snow, when it's warm enough to do so. Tackle football in the snow with the Shutra's, it's soooo much fun because being tackled doesn't hurt, plus they are nice to me and only gently tackle me..hehe.

One thing I pray for ………….a healthy baby, patience, understanding, love, Nathan & Wayne, an eternal family...oh that's way more than one thing

One thing I wish I had……nice perky boobs...hehe... I will be getting them soon when my milk comes in for a little while but then it sucks because they hurt too much...hehe.

One thing I would do again, regardless of the pain……go through all the treatments to have our babies, it was a little bit physically painful but as you all know it was EXTREMELY emotionally painful...however, having a beautiful healthy son and another wonderful baby on the way makes every tear worth it.

One thing that I absolutely hate to do………I really don't like doing dishes... seriously, I have to force myself to get them done everynight because I hate having a dirty kitchen in the morning. I would LOVE to have a person that did the dishes for me after I have made my huge supper cooking messes...oh wait, that's what my hubby is for!!! ;)

One thing that is weird about me………..hmmm....I don't know if it's weird but some people have told me it is... I am very open about sexuality...not my sex life but about sex in general. My parents were always open with us and even at a young age my GF's would ask me questions because they were too afraid to ask their parents but wanted to know the answers. I feel empowered by knowing about my body and how it functions and I am totally okay with talking to people about things. In fact, for about a month (ya, that's as long as that thought lasted) I thought about being a Sex Therapist (but for the church). I think people have too many hangups and questions that they are afraid to ask and it can cause problems in their lives.

One thing that I need help on………….patience, I lack it, but I'm trying, my husband might disagree but I really am trying.

One thing I find most relaxing………..a pedicure with friends.... I LOVE them.

One thing that could get me in trouble…….my lack of patience, and not being afraid to say what I think or believe (I will hold back for a while but if someone pushes me hard enough they will get an earful)

One thing that annoys me……..people that think they are better than others, cliques, acting like we are in highschool when we are almost 30.

One thing that I have learned, but still sometimes forget…… that I am a daughter of Heavenly Father and he has a great plan for me.

I've been tagged!!

2009-01-23T16:16:00.002-06:00

Theresa tagged me and I thought this one could be fun to do again.

6 things you may not know about me:

1)I HATE socks... as soon as I can I take them off, and if I could wear sandals all year long I would. I think I hate them the most because I have HOT feet, well normally I do except this pregnancy and my feet (well actually ALL of my body) are always FREEZING. My poor husband who HATES feet (seriously, HATE is probably an understatement) has to deal with me tucking them under his bum, trying to warm them up ALL night long, just trying to use his hotness :) to get warm.

2)In highschool I was on a dance team....not a cheerleader, but a dancer. I LOVED it!!! I wasn't going to try out but I am SOOOO glad I did. I met AWESOME girls, had sooo much fun training and learning the routines, performing for our basketball halftimes, performing for the college team halftime, going on a road trip to watch provincials, but mostly expanding who I was and experiencing something that I would never have done before. It was SOOOO much fun. (If any of my sweet danceteam members are snoopers on here, do you have any videos?!? I would love to see them.)

3) I LOVE to cook, but I don't really bake a whole lot (unless I am craving something specific). With cooking I love being able to throw a little of this and a little of that and coming up with something yummy. I LOVE cooking for other people, seriously, I love having people over and feeding them...if you don't leave my house STUFFED I feel like I haven't been a good hostess.

4) I once was propositioned to be a hooker. I am NOT KIDDING!!! If you don't believe me ask my mom 'cause she heard the WHOLE conversation. To make a long story short... when I was flying home from NY a guy (probably in his late 40's-50's) came up to my friends and I and started chatting us up. He got my number (Hmmmm, how did that happen???) and then about a week or so later I get this RANDOM call from this guy while I was cutting my mom's hair. I put him on speaker phone so I could keep cutting and after a while of him sucking up, saying how beautiful I was, etc. etc. he asked if I would like to move back to NY. (BTW, he knew he was on the speaker phone and he knew my mom was listening) Then he said that he would be willing to put me up in an apartment, he would pay all my expenses, including my gym membership (because I didn't need to lose weight but just to tone up.....that was his idea not mine). He told me I would get paid GREAT money... I can't remember how much but it was a LOT... uh hu... and he said that all I would have to do is when his "friends" came into town I would go with them to their functions and be their dates, look good on their arm, and keep them happy......OHHHHH OKAY!!!! I am not kidding, my mom and I sat there totally dumbfounded, mouths WIDE open, not really sure what to say. I turned him down, OBVIOUSLY, got off the phone and then my mom and I laughed so hard we were crying.... so yes, I could have been Pretty Woman!!!! HAHAHA

3) Hmmm... what else don't you guys know about me. My favorite color is pink....and my favorite color combo is pink and orange. Okay, that's boring especially after my last point.

4) I dated a LOT of guys before I met Wayne. I LOVED dating, seriously I had soooo much fun dating all the guys. I dated some pretty big losers, but I dated some pretty awesome guys too. I definately knew though when I met my husband what I wanted in a guy and what I didn't want and out of ALL the guys I dated.... Wayne was OBVIOUSLY the best choice for me... he was definately meant to be mine. He is the ying for my yang, the chocolate for my strawberries...blah blah... I kind of like the guy.

5) I always wanted a BIG family, I thought 6-8 kids would be FABULOUS!!!! My mom is from a family of 11. I have SOOOO many aunts and uncles, and the cousins.....oh there are SOOOOO many of them. I love when we all get together and I always wanted to have that. But then after having one little guy my number dropped to 4, and now I will be happy with 2. :) I am not sure if I will be done after this one. Wayne thinks we should be, but I think that is because our fertility trials are REALLY hard to go through physically and emotionally (for both of us) and I think he's just done with it all. I don't know what will happen but for now we are MORE than enjoying Nate and being pregnant and then we will see what happens after that. We're going to leave it up to Heavenly Father and I KNOW he will let us know what's best for our family.

6) I LOVE watching cooking shows... ohhh my poor husband. I don't know why I like watching them so much, maybe to get some new ideas. I could watch them all day if that wouldn't be TOTALLY not okay. My favorite is Iron Chef, and I secretly fantasize about being one of the guest judges...oh all the neat things you could eat.

Okay, well now it's time to pass this on for you to do.

Christmas Holidays cont'd.....

2009-01-19T16:32:00.002-06:00

Boxing Day the Shutra boys always play in a Funspiel (I played one year but dangit, I'm pregnant this year so can't....ooohhh shucks...haha...not at all... I don't feel one bit sad that I'm not curling with them) Anyways, the boys love it and thought it would be fun to dress "up" or down for the day. They got some weird looks but they had a LOT of fun and I think they even won a few games.

Some pics of the hotties:
Wayne's sexy shot...note the high pants...RRAARRR!!!

Next up, Aaron's shot

Wayne and Andy talking strategy ;)

All the boys, trying to be cool. L-R: Grandpa Brian, Aaron, Wayne, Andrew

We spent a few more days at the Shutra's and then headed down to Calgary. We went to a Flames game, which Nate liked but because he was just getting over his sickness he slept through the 3rd period. We stayed at a hotel and went watersliding the next day which was soooo much fun. Went shopping for a little bit and then headed to Grandma and Grandpa Butler's house.

Again... I didn't take any pictures until the last night we were there....That is one of my goals for this year is to get more candid pictures of our family.

New Year's Eve we spent with Mom, Dad, Steven, Lisa, Ethan and the 3 of us. We hung out, ate munchies, popped poppers, counted down and then the kids went to bed. Again we played Things and had some AWESOME laughs, Dad even came and joined us (he was a party pooper at first but got sucked into the fun).

The next day we had some of my cousin's over and my grandparents and mom and dad made their AMAZING greek ribs..... ohhhhhh.... I was in HEAVEN!!! I have been craving these for months and BIG TIME hinted for them to make them. They were soooo goood.... I ate WAY too many but enjoyed EVERY single bite I took. We all ate like crazy and had a great time just hanging out. We played Things again... and were shocked at how naughty Grandpa & Grandma Great even can be!!! HEHE!!! It was funny cause my Dad kept telling me to keep it clean (meaning not to write anything dirty down for my responses)... I was being really good and then my Grandpa said something and that was the end of that.... I don't think I have EVER laughed so hard. We all had a super fun time, at least I did and I hope everyone else had fun.

We spent a few more days with mom and dad and Lisa and Steven and just had a nice relaxing time.

Ethan LOVED Nathan and would try to play with/bug him all the time. Nathan was SOOOO good and would play with Ethan, ignore him, or tell him to knock it off.... he showed me what a great big brother he is going to be.
Here are a few pictures of Ethan and Nate luvin on eachother:
Giving goodnight kisses

Nate's sleeping (NOT), Ethan could have stayed there all night if we had let him.

Ethan thought this might be more comfy

We had SUCH a great couple of weeks... I LOVE being with family especially during the holidays. We miss you all and wish everyone lived closer so we could see you all the time. I hope all my blogging friends had just as Fabulous of Christmas holidays as we did.

I have been SUCH a slacker!!! Will you forgive me?!?

2009-01-19T14:15:00.004-06:00

This last month has gone by SOOOOO fast. I have been REALLY enjoying everyone else's updates and have been thinking all month that I need to update but just have been too lazy...

how is that possible????

how can someone be too lazy to just write down some words???

I'm not sure but oh well I am back!!!

This will be just a mish-mash of stuff to quickly bring everyone back up to date. So I hope you'll be able to follow along with my randomness. :)

December was a fun/crazy busy month. I was VERY happy that this year I actually got most of my Christmas shopping done before December, and only had to go to the mall/Toys R' Us once. I think my hubby was pretty happy we didn't have to go again as I am not a patient person when it comes to dumb or rude drivers/shoppers and can embarass the poor guy a lot.... I just chalk it up to pregnancy hormones.

On the 23rd of December Nathan started acting REALLY weird and I finally stopped packing and just cuddled with my little guy.... the poor little thing was burning up and had a fever of 39.6 (103.3) which is WAY too high. Luckily his fever would come down with Tylenol but I still took him into the dr. since we were planning to be gone for almost 2 weeks. The dr. figured it was just a virus and he would just have to work it out on his own....poor thing. We spent the night keeping his temperature down and just trying to keep him comfy and relaxed. It was hard for me 'cause certain things had to be put on hold or not done at all before we left...like packing and then getting the house SPOTLESS so when we come back it's to a clean house, this didn't happen because well....the little man needed to be loved more than the house needed to be cleaned. I wasn't even sure if we should go away until he felt better but since his fever was able to be controlled with Tylenol and Motrin we decided we would still try to go and if we had to we would go home.

On the 24th we headed to the Shutra's for Christmas (we alternate Christmas's every year, this year was with the Shutra's, next year will be with the Butler's). We had a BUNCH of fun with everyone (all the boys and Darryl's girlfriend were there).
Nathan built a gingerbread house with Grandma Charlene and Grandpa Brian.

Finished Product:

Just before Nathan was going to head for bed we got a surprise visitor....

Santa stopped by to make sure that Nathan was at Grandma and Grandpa's house because he had stopped at our house and Nate wasn't there. He also brought some pj's and a toy for Nathan and then told Nate to hurry and get to bed so he could bring the rest of the gifts. It was soooo much fun, Nathan was in total awe and didn't really know what to do or say (plus he still was fighting his fever and wasn't feeling very good). Santa left and Uncle Andy helped Nathan set up for Santa and sprinkle the reindeer dust so Santa could find his way back.

Nathan had a HORRIBLE night which meant Mommy had a HORRIBLE night too. Finally at 4 am I got up to give Nate another dose of Tylenol/Motrin and we made our way to the rocking chair. I rocked Nate for almost an hour and then we both passed out until 9:30....ahhhh, sleep is soooo wonderful. Grandma Charlene got up to take care of Nate and sent me back to bed. Poor Nate was soooo sick he didn't care that the living room was FILLED with presents and his once empty stocking was overflowing, all he wanted to do was lay with Grandma and watch cartoons. :(

I climbed into bed and Wayne asked what time it was... I told him 9:30 and he said..."We can't sleep in this late, it's Christmas morning, we have to get up and get going...come on, get up". I couldn't help but be excited and so we got everyone up.

We all were VERY spoiled this Christmas, especially the little man. I didn't take ANY pictures though of Christmas morning...what was I thinking?!?! My bad, bad husband broke our rule (we weren't getting gifts for eachother this year) and bought me a new video camera, which I LOVE, btw!!! I have to admit though, I broke the rule too and bought him a new jigsaw...bad me.

We had a fabulous breakfast, and then all just bummed around for the day. That night we went to Grandma Lulu's and Grandpa Louis (aka, Wayne's Grandma and Grandpa Shutra) and had a FABULOUS supper. We hung out with the cousins and then played "Things".... if you haven't played it yet you have to....it's SOOOOOOO fun!!!! Seriously, one of THE best games I've ever played.

Looked like fun!!! ;)

2008-12-11T09:31:00.002-06:00

1. How old will you be in five years?33, holy smokes where did the 20's go!!!???!!!
2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today? My Nate
3. How tall are you? 5'6
4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks? Spending time with family...but mostly Wayne NOT having to go to work and being home with us for 2 weeks...woohoo!!!
5. What's the last movie you saw? Bolt-3D, it was a GREAT show and was cool in 3-D
6. Who was the last person you called? The Discovery Toys lady...she FINALLY got our Christmas presents in
7. Who was the last person to call you? Probably Wayne
8. What was the last text message you received? I don't text, I know, I know... I need to get with the times but this is one of "those" things that I would reather save my money than having, plus, who would I text, Wayne?!? I can just call him.
9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail? Lisa
10. Do you prefer to call or text? I answered that in 8
11. What were you doing at 12am last night? Trying to sleep and Wayne trying to get me up to take out my contacts... I didn't get up until 1:30am hehe..
12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? Married, but not only married they are VERY HAPPILY married
13. When is the last time you saw your mom? Umm... a few weeks ago when they came to our place to visit for a few days.
14. What color are your eyes? Blue/green/grey, depends on my mood and makeup
15. Do you own slippers? Nope, I HATE things on my feet, I like to have naked feet
16. What are you wearing right now? My Lulu pants and a HUGE sweater, oh and my underwear...hehe...
17. What is your favorite christmas song? Oh Holy Night and Silent Night and.... actually I LOVE Christmas music and listen to it ALL year long
18. Where is your favorite place to be?At home with my boys just hanging out
19. Where is your least favorite place to be?Right now, driving the bus....ahhh 2o kids that want to be done school are NOT fun to be driving around
20. Africa-NewZealand-Japan? Africa
21. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years?Man, I will be a taxi service carting my kids around to all their activities, happily married to my sexy hubby, travelling, working as a nurse and just LOVING life.
22. Do you tan or burn?Tan
23. What did you fear was going to get you as a child?I always had this weird dream that I was in an old creepy house with cobwebs and tons of rooms and I would be running away from something, it was PETRIFYING... finally one day I decided to be brave and turn around and fight whatever was coming after me... I did and I won't go into details but I beat it off and NEVER had that dream again. I also use to get totally scared running up our basement stairs... I would start walking and then run as fast as I could not wanting to look behind me just in case...hehe... oh wait I still do that...HAHA!!!
24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh?Kids on the bus confusing puberty and menopause, one kid thought that his mom was going through the WORST time of her life, puberty.... they talked about all of her complaints and then both said they NEVER want to go through puberty...hehe!!!
25. How many TVs do you have in your house?2 that we use and one from Lisa and Steven that we aren't sure what we are going to do with yet.
26. When did u last get in a argument?This morning when Wayne, who was VERY late for work, was in my way while I was trying to get ready and not be late.
27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer? We have both, laptop and desktop, I am on the laptop right now.
28. Do you sleep with or without clothes on? Lately I have been wanting to sleep with nothing on since EVERYTHING feels so tight against my bulging belly...but I sleep in underwear and sometimes pj bottoms, NEVER tops unless someone is at our house visiting
29. What color are your walls?My house could be the coat of many colors, I have a lot of colors going on but I love it....the only rooms I would change are my upstairs living room and kitchen and my basement family room when we get new carpet.
30. How many pillows do you sleep with? Right now I am sleeping comfy again and I only have the one for my head and I hug one, it helps keep me from rolling on my tummy.
31. What is your favorite season?Spring and summer
32. What do you like about fall? All the incredible colors
33. What do you like about winter?Snowmobiling, playing in the snow, sledding, the beautifulness of white, I LOVE WHITE!!!!
34. What do you like about the summer? Swimming, laying on the beach, playing in water, not having to wear a lot of clothes
35. What do you like about spring?I love all the flowers and the newness of everything
36. How many states have you lived in? 2 provinces, 3 states
37. What states have you lived in?Alberta, Saskatchewan, Washington, California, NY
38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?Bare feet for sure
39. Are you a social person?Ummmm...do you know me?!? Then you already know this answer,.... I am shy...haha
40. What was the last thing you ate? Honey Nut Cheerios, milk and mango yogurt...mmmm
41. Have you tried escargo? Yep and I love it, Nathan likes it too.
42. What is your favorite ice cream?Mint Chocolate chip
43. What is your favorite dessert?Probably icecream
44. Have you drank a Shirley Temple?Ya
45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich? Raspberry
46. Do you like Chinese food? Yes, but I like Vietnamese better
47. Do you like coffee? Nope, but I like the smell of it brewing
48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average? Lot's, probably 8-12 a day
49. What do you drink in the morning?Milk, and water, sometimes orange juice if I have it
50. How often do you shower? body-everyday, hair-every other day
51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed? If I was looking at the ceiling, the right side
52. Do you know how to play poker? I sure do and I can kick some major butt too...hehe.. I don't play anymore though.

Hero

2008-12-01T12:51:00.003-06:00

Last night Wayne came into our room. There were tears in his eyes and he had a huge smile on his face. He had been putting Nathan to bed and while tucking him in Nate said "Daddy, when I get big I want to be like you."

Awww.....it melted Wayne's heart, and mine too.

All little boys need a hero... Wayne is definately Nathan's.

Wayne will probably kill me for posting this pic, but I think it's hot!!! :)

My little date!!!

2008-11-30T14:51:00.002-06:00

This little boy is such a sweetheart.

Last night Wayne went to play hockey and so I decided it would be a good night to go on a date with Nate. I told Nate that he was taking me on a date and as we were driving into the city I asked him if he was going to pay for supper. He said he couldn't because he didn't have money. I reminded him that he had a full piggy bank of money (obviously I was just teasing him). He said he couldn't use that money because he was saving it to buy some games. I asked him if he would ever take me out for supper and pay. He said "I will Mommy, I will buy some games with my money in my bank and then save up for 2 more games and a supper for you, is that okay mommy?" It was soooo sweet. I told him for now he didn't have to worry about paying and mommy would cover the cost (I did let him give the waiter the card and push the buttons for debit, he even gave the waiter a BIG tip).

It was nice going out with JUST Nathan and being able to spend time focused just on him. We had a VERY good conversation about Ninja Turtles, Bolt, Preschool, fries and everything that was important to him and I enjoyed every minute with my little stud. Nathan felt it was important that he sit beside me and he kept kissing and hugging me and telling me how much he loves me.... what a date hey?!?

After supper we went to Toy's R Us and were there for over an hour. Normally I just rush through the store and only let him look at a few things, this time I just waited while he looked and touched EVERYTHING. I enjoyed watching his excitement and played with a few things too.

I feel like day to day I get so caught up in getting the house clean, making meals, my job, rushing....rushing.... rushing that I forget to just slow down and enjoy this CRAZY fast changing time with my son. I want to stop and actually LISTEN to what he is saying to me, not just say "Uh huh" as I am running around doing things. He changes everyday and I feel like I am missing out on soooo much with him and I spend 24 hours a day with him. So it's become my personal goal to stop what I am doing and just listen, play or do what my son NEEDS because I don't want to look back in 20 years and only remember having a clean house and good food, and not able to remember what Nathan liked at 3, what his interests were, what a great kid he really is.

Last night was a WONDERFUL night and I think that Nathan and I are going to make Date night a regular thing.

PSA!!!

2008-11-26T19:34:00.003-06:00

If you ever want to just kick up your normal day to day mashed potatoes you need to try THESE. They are SOOOOOO good. I have been waiting to try these for a VERY long time, but because of the amount of FAT (mmmm..... fat) in them and trying to lose weight I just didn't think it was a very smart idea. However, now that I am pregnant (yes, I am still eating REALLY healthy for most of the time) I feel that a little indulgence every once in a while is TOTALLY okay.

These potatoes are DEFINATELY an indulgence, but they are soooo worth it (BTW, the first time you make them I would recommend to not skimp on anything, you need to experience the yummyness, after that if you still want to skimp go for it) . We ate them with ham and sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, and gravy was not needed. They are creamy, flavorful, just totally yummy. I probably won't make them again for a while, again, once you read the recipe you will understand, but I'm thinking Mom and Dad can make some of their FABULOUS greek ribs and I will make these.... ohhhhh.....Dad I will totally bring an extra box of ribs down if I need to.... my mouth is WATERING!!!!

I just thought I would pass on this awesome find to all my wonderful friends out there in blog land. :) Yes grandma, you can probably make a smaller portion for a few meals for you and grandpa, or just invite over a bunch of grandkids and let them enjoy them as well. :)

Thanks Andy!!!

2008-11-21T16:39:00.003-06:00

Writing a blog can be intimidating sometimes. There are lot's of different things that run through my head during the day and most times I can't think of the "perfect" way to write it so I don't. Andy really inspired me to just put it out there, so I will.

First off I want to say a HUGE thankyou for all the support and love that you have all shown me, but especially over the last week. It's amazing how so many people come out of the woodworks to show their support and show that they care and have been hoping for my happiness.

Also, Nathan and I have spent the last 3 years at home and he has never been to daycare, other than nursery and playdates he didn't get a lot of socialization with other kids. I think as a mom you always wonder if you are doing what is right for your child, and Wayne and I made the decision years ago that I would stay home with our kids if at all possible. However, I've wondered if sometimes it would be good for him to be in a daycare setting every once in a while to get used to dealing with other kids. I wasn't sure how Nate would do in Preschool since he can definately be bossy and stubborn. However, I talked with his teacher this week and she said that he is such a wonderful little boy (which I already knew), that he is very mature and smart (again, I totally knew this...hehe.). I asked her about how he acts with the other kids, is he bossy, aggressive... she said not at all. That he is the PERFECT combination of passive and aggressive...he doesn't let kids push him around, but he isn't mean. PHEW... that is EXACTLY what I wanted to hear. I am okay if Nate isn't the smartest person out there, I am okay if he wants to grow up to be a doctor or a hairdresser, I'm okay with him being ANYTHING but what I want is for Nathan to be a "strong" person. I don't want him to be mean or a bully, but I want him to stand up for himself and not put up with crap from people that are being bully's. I want him to know who HE is and be okay with that. Even though I know that Nathan is a GREAT kid it's nice to hear it from someone that is impartial. Plus, Nate was soooo proud of himself that his teacher said nice things about him, he kept telling me he is so smart...haha....ya, your smart buddy and cocky!! :)

I looked at a chinese gender prediction calendar today....okay, I actually looked at 4 different ones, and 3 out of the 4 said I am having a boy...but 1 out of 4 said I'm having a girl...hmmmm.... I wonder what it will be. I also tried the wedding ring swinging over your tummy thing. If it swings back and forth it's a girl, if it swings in circles it's a boy.....My ring would only swing back and forth even when I tried to swing it in a circle it would instantly go back to back and forth. Of course, I think it would be a LOT of fun if I had a girl, because hello, girl stuff is WAY cuter than boy stuff. But I will be happy with ANY gender of baby that I get... seriously, I just pray for a healthy baby, that's all that really matters right. Oh and just to let you know, I feel like it's a boy, in fact the other day I was talking to my mom and I said something about the boys going to daycare when I am working again. I caught myself and changed it to boy and girl but boys is what usually slips out of my mouth and what is in my mind. I KNEW that Nate was a boy (we could never see through ultrasound, I just always thought of him as a boy). We want to find out what this baby is, Wayne and I both don't really like surprises so why wait?If we can't find out, oh well, we will know in 6 months...hehe. Do you think it's lame that I already bought a few girl outfits though?!? I figure I can give them away as baby gifts if it's a boy again. :)

Hmmm... Oh man, I think there was more that I wanted to talk about but the mommy mush brain is coming back and I can't remember what it is. ;)

Oh well... I'll do more posts that I just put it out there... great idea Andy.

I DID IT!!!

2008-11-17T14:13:00.002-06:00

Well I did it!!! I passed my Accuplacer!!! I am not sure if I wrote about the Accuplacer but if you don't know what it is, it is a test that allows me to challenge my Grade 12 Math class. I was told that my Alberta Math 33 class was not good enough for Saskatchewan standards. So instead of having to retake a Math class I challenged the Accuplacer. You have to pass 3 parts of the test (there is a minimum mark to pass but I don't know what it is) , Math (which can be anything from Grade 10 Math to Advanced Grade 12 Math), Sentence Structure, and Reading Comprehension. If you pass these 3 parts then you write an essay. If I pass all 4 parts then I won't have to retake the Math class.

I took the Accuplacer about a month ago. I passed the Math part with 94%!!!! I was sooooo excited because I was REALLY worried about the Math since I hadn't taken a Math course in 10.5 years...AGGGHHH, but I totally KICKED it's butt. I got 86% (or something, I don't really remember the EXACT mark) on the Sentence Structure part. I missed the stinking Reading Comprehension by 1 MARK!!!!AHHHH. I was pretty upset. I had 1 more chance to retake the Reading Comp. part and if I didn't pass I had to retake the Math class... I know passing the English part to not take the Math part doesn't make sense, but it's what I had to do.

Last night I was trying to study the reading comp. stuff but really wasn't doing too well and was getting a little stressed. My fabulous husband gave me a beautiful blessing and I felt instant peace... I didn't know if I was going to pass, but I knew that whatever was meant to be would be.

This morning I retook the test. I got 96% on the Reading Comp..... WOO HOOO!!!!! I then had 2 hours to write the essay. I LOVE writing essays... I am a fabulous BS'er, but I haven't written an English essay in a LONG time. The topic was what Technology has helped change our country or something like that. I wrote the essay, kicked it's BOOTY and got 100%!!!! YAY!!!!

I am sooooo stinkin pumped!!!! Having passed this exam means that there is NOTHING else that I have to do to get accepted into Practical Nursing!!!! So now I just have to wait to see when I am accepted.

I have NEVER felt so strong, smart, in control and powerful in my life. I feel like I am finally taking control of MY LIFE and I have done the hard work to get to this goal and I am seriously sooooo proud of myself. I have always wanted to have an education. I am a hairdresser, and I like hairdressing... it definately wasn't what I wanted to do for the REST of my life. I want to be a nurse. I want to be able to take care of my family if something were to happen to Wayne or his job. I want to be able to teach my children about furthering their education and being able to be an example of this. There is NOTHING in this world that would make me regret being a mom, or taking these last 3 years to be with Nathan, that is BY FAR THE BEST thing I have ever done.... but it feels amazing as a woman and as ME (not Mommy) to be doing this for ME!!!! Yes, there are definately those moments when I think about all the time that I am going to have to miss with my kids because I am in school or because I am working. But I KNOW that I am doing something that will make me feel better about myself, will help me grow and be ME and doing something for myself, and in return will WONDERFULLY affect my family. I am SERIOUSLY soooo excited!!!! Can you tell??!

Everything that I have worked SOOOOO hard for these last few years are finally happening. I am soooo excited to start this new part of my life with another beautiful baby, my wonderful husband and cute little man and the start of an education that I have ALWAYS wanted.

Nate got a new shirt!!!

2008-11-14T09:27:00.005-06:00

Nathan LOVES his new shirt and I thought I would share it here:

Hahaha!!! Yes, all my devoted blog friends, I can FINALLY tell you all the VERY exciting news. After 3 long and trying years we are finally expecting baby #2 on May 30th 2009!!!! We are BEYOND excited and I've been waiting for 8 weeks to finally tell everyone. We wanted to wait for the first trimester to be done since I have had 2 miscarriages in the past and we had a little scare at 7 weeks with this baby. Today I am 12 weeks PREGNANT!!!! WOOHOO!!! It feels SOOOOO amazing to finally be able to say that.

I was starting to get worried that people were going to start asking me if I was pregnant or just getting fat since I am starting to get a good little ponch on me. ;)

This pregnancy has been totally different than Nate's. With Nathan I was nauseous ALL day long but would never puke. This time I've been fine and then the littlest smell or thought of food would keep me hugging the toilet for quite a long time. But it's all been worth it to know there is a tiny little baby growing inside me.

Like I said we had a scare at 7 weeks when I woke up and was bleeding. I did my bus run and then Wayne came and got me and we rushed into the doctor who checked me out and then had me get an ultrasound. I felt like I couldn't breathe the whole morning while we waited.... I couldn't go through this again, I couldn't have tried for soooo long to finally get this baby and to lose it just like that. I laid on the table and the Dr. found the little blob INSTANTLY, there in the blob was the most BEAUTIFUL thing I have EVER seen, a heartbeat. I started bawling, it was THE MOST beautiful blob I have ever seen. After I gained my composure I had the Dr. really check to make sure there was just the one heartbeat and that's all there was.... we are having 1 baby. :)

Anyways, Nathan really does love his shirt and that's how we told both sets of parents. We sent Nate upstairs to show my mom his new shirt, which she said was her "Most Favorite shirt EVER"!!! My dad said, "What does this mean?" hahaha. Nathan had the shirt on when we went out to Wayne's mom and dad's. He was hanging out with everyone for almost 30 minutes and NOONE noticed, so finally Wayne had Nathan show Grandma and Grandpa, they liked the shirt too.

Remembrance Day

2008-11-12T10:22:00.002-06:00

Yesterday as I sat for the moment of silence I couldn't help but feel an amazing amount of gratitude for those that have risked their lives, and are risking their lives for us and our freedom.

When I lived in New York I worked for a family that was Jewish. I learned an incredible amount of things about their religion and I had some really neat experiences that I will remember for ALL my life. One of the amazing experiences I had was I got to spend time with this family's Zadie and Bubie (Grandpa and Grandma). They would come over quite often and then one day I noticed some numbers on Zadie's arm. I had NO idea what they were and I asked him about them. He told me that these were the numbers that were his identity as he was in the concentration camps. He wasn't a person, he was a number at that time and these numbers represented that. I don't know if all of the prisoners received one of these tatoos but I know many did and Bubie showed me hers as well. WOW!!! That one moment made me feel like all that history that I had been taught in school was REAL. That there REALLY were "those" people out there and that I now knew 2 of them.

I didn't know if it would be disrespectful to ask a lot of questions but over time I learned a bit of Zadie(Grandpa) and Bubie's(Grandma) stories. They were VERY young when their families were captured, they were taken to the camps and seperated from all of their siblings and parents. Zadie was put to work... I don't know what he did, but he was strong so he was "needed". I heard that they saw THE most HORRIBLE things. I heard stories of rape, of beatings, of torture, but also of hope, of belief, of determination, and of love.

They were finally let go, I assume after the war was over, but I don't know (or remember). They moved to the USA at an incredibly young age, Bubie was only 14. They instantly started working, and working INCREDIBLY hard and tried to make a better life for themselves. Bubie somehow found one of her sisters, whom she had thought she had lost forever, the rest of her family she never saw again. I don't remember if Zadie ever found anyone, but I don't think he did. They eventually met, fell in love, and started their family.

I wish that I would have respectfully asked more questions and actually taken the time to write down the details. However, some of the details I will always remember. The details of how grateful they were for those who fought SOOOO hard to help them, complete strangers, but people that deserved to live. The details of how Bubie's eyes glazed over as she told me of the conditions of the places she was kept, to say they were kept in places and treated like animals would be a HUGE understatement. The detail of the numbers that are forever printed on their arms as a constant reminder of where they came from and where they are now. The numbers that were hidden from the world under long sleeved shirts at all times to help these people to keep their secrets.

I will never forget those details.

I am Grateful and I will REMEMBER.

2008-10-15T09:52:00.002-06:00

Christal did this on her blog and I thought it was cute!!! Plus, since I haven't been the most faithful blogger I needed something to fill my blog with!! :)

1. I've come to realize that my last kiss: was pathetic since I have a HUGE coldsore and can't be kissed on the lips... Pathetic.

2. Last night: I should have just gotten up and gone to the bathroom rather than trying to sleep with a full bladder.

3. I drink: water, milk and sometimes juice but rarely drink pop and if I do I shake out most of the carbonation.

4. I eat: almost everything. My mom taught us as young kids that we had to try everything and I still STRONGLY believe that. I try everything and most of the time I like it, sometimes...not so much, but most of the time stuff is pretty good.

5. I love: my boys.

6. My bedroom is: a mess right now. It's full of clothes and suitcases that I am trying to get cleaned up, but obviously I'm taking a break from that.

7. My love life: is......hmmm...... not appropriate to talk about on a child friendly blog :)

8. I hate it when people: think they are better than other people.

9. Love is: Wonderful!!!

10. Marriage is: a journey, sometimes there are hills/mountains that need to be climbed and sometimes smooth roads but when you have your love there to hold your hand and go on the journey with you it is all worth it.

11. Somewhere, someone is thinking: about who they REALLY are.

12. I always: say I love you to Wayne and Nathan multiple times a day.

13. I have a secret crush on: Brad Pitt....mmmmm....

14. My cell phone: is a pain in the BUTT.... I will NEVER use Telus in Saskatchewan again.

15. When I wake up in the morning: I lay in bed for at least another 5 minutes and have to talk myself into getting up into the cold house maybe I should set the thermometor to warm up the house a little earlier so I can get up into a warm house.

16. Before I go to bed I: read my scrpitures, write in Nathan's journal, sometimes write in my journal, say my prayers, check my emails, and go to sleep.

17. Right now I am thinking about: how sore my lip is... I haven't had a coldsore in 6 years and I guess I am making up for the last 6 years.

18. Babies are: such an INCREDIBLE gift from our Heavenly Father.

19. My house: is cold... I think I need to turn up the heat.

20. Today I: don't have any patience, so please don't bug me. :)

21. Tonight I will: have to go grocery shopping since we have NO food in our house.

22. Tomorrow I will: clean house, top to bottom, EVERYTHING needs to be deep cleaned again... why can't dust just stay away while we are gone on vacation?!?

23. I really want to: climb in bed and go back to sleep.

I LOVE this girl!!!

2008-09-29T14:29:00.003-06:00

This girl is my BEST friend!!!

Our history:

Shortly after I had Nathan I decided to join the Parent Talk group. For any moms who are having their first baby, I would HIGHLY recommend the Parent Talk group. You can meet new moms and get some awesome advice from a nurse as well.

Anywho, the very first day there was this girl sitting across the room from me. She was very outgoing, funny, kind, and just seemed really cool. Instantly, I wanted to get to know her. Haha...this almost sounds love a romance story...hehe....

We did meet, we also met another fabulous lady Christine that we've been friends with since as well. Jen and I just seemed to REALLY click from day one. We did the time in the Parent Talk group and then Jen, Christine and I decided to start having a girl's night every month.

Well 3 years, tons of chick flicks, and FABULOUS restaurants later we are still fabulous friends. Jen and I started doing playdates with our boys, and from the VERY beginning we just fit. I seriously feel like she is the older sister that I ALWAYS wanted, but not just a sister my best friend. I KNOW that I knew Jen in Heaven before we came to this earth, and I KNOW that we were best friends at that time as well. I can't explain but she is the ying to my yang, the icecream to my pie, my personal home decorator/organizer, the person that kicks me in the butt when I need it....haha...J/K. She really is just one of those friends that I can't wait to grow old with.

How could you not be friends with someone like this?

I wish you all could get to know Jen as well as I do. You would love her to death too.

Her family's pretty great too.

Nathan's funny

2008-09-24T21:11:00.002-06:00

A few weekends ago our AWESOME friends Mark and Jen watched Nathan for us while we did another round of delivering phonebooks (that is a WHOLE other story). Anyways, Mark, Jen, and Liam took Nathan to the zoo with them. Jen called me laughing and told me this story. After looking at many of the animals they decided to go and feed the animals. There are those little "candy" dispensers that have the food in them. Jen asked Nate if he wanted to feed the birds, Nate said "Yes". Jen put the money in the dispenser, turned the dial, retrieved the food in her hand and gave Nate a small amount of the food. Instantly, Nate popped the food into his mouth. HAHAHA. Jen said that it was like watching it happen in slow motion. She saw the food in his hand, him lifting his hand to his mouth and putting the food in his mouth all before she could react. Jen said that she told him to spit it out, which he did, and then didn't really know what to do.... HAHAHA!!!! Oh Nate. I'm thinking that because every once in a while we will get some candy from one of those machines. Nate must have thought that it was candy.

The other night Nathan and Wayne were playing hide and seek. All of a sudden Wayne comes ripping into the kitchen "Jackie, hurry and come see where Nate's hiding." I quickly followed Wayne and there in his tall skinny laundry basket were Nathan's legs hanging out the top. Where was his head? Oh, way down in the bottom of the basket... HAHAHA.... In his rush to find a hiding spot, Nate decided that it was a great idea to hide in the basket. However, Mommy or Daddy usually lifts him into the basket, feet first. Nate I guess decided he could do it himself, so in he jumped (he would have had to jump to get in) head first. HAHAHA!!!! By the time we stopped laughing he was wiggling around trying to get himself out. It seriously was the funniest thing I have ever seen. It was one of those moments when I actually debated grabbing the camera and making him wait, but the good mommy in me pulled him out by his feet..hehe..

Update #1 of how many???? I don't know.

2008-09-15T16:08:00.003-06:00

Well after crying/bawling for almost 2 hours I finally got myself under control enough to get on my knees. The first time I prayed, I prayed that I wouldn't be angry with Heavenly Father...the second time I prayed, I prayed for patience and understanding.

I finally felt like I could call admissions without breaking down into sobs. I called and got Wendy, yes the Wendy that had given me the wrong information. I told her my name, asked if she wanted to open my file before we started talking and she said she didn't need to because she knew who I was. Okay, I informed her that I was told months ago.......blah...blah...blah....if you've read my last entry you'll know what I was told. BTW, I was not rude at all.... I was blunt, and said EXACTLY what I felt but not rude, just strong. Instantly, she was EXTREMLY rude, told me that if I hadn't taken my Bio. I would have had to get a crazy high mark in Math to make up for my highschool bio's low average "and well, getting those kind of marks aren't guaranteed". She told me that there are human errors...She also started going into even though I was given the wrong information my grades were what was holding me back....blah...blah....blah....

Well that was where I couldn't bite my tongue anymore. I said "You need to stop right there, you were the one that gave me the wrong info, you were the one that told me that my math was fine, you were the one that told me I didn't need to upgrade, you have some NERVE to try to turn this around on me when you were the one that gave me the wrong information. If I had KNOWN that I needed to take my Math I might have done things differently, I could have AT LEAST gotten my Math done and if then I needed to raise my average I could be in a Bio class NOW not next semester. Yes, I understand there are human mistakes but when you guys lost my transcripts didn't inform me of this, and now I am learning that because of other HUMAN MISTAKES I was given the wrong info... well do you understand why I am just a little frustrated????? In highschool I messed around and I regret that now everyday, but I am a very smart person and I am doing EVERYTHING I can to get into this program and yet I feel like everything is waying me down and holding me back."

At this point I broke down... I couldn't stop... the tears started pouring, my voice totally cracked...I could only get out a quiet whisper "Just one sec."..... I sat there breathing deeply trying to get control of my emotions.

When I got back on with her I asked if she understood why I was upset, and her tone was 100% different when she answered. She understood how this whole situation could be VERY upsetting. She talked to me about my options, I got exact answers from her and I asked EVERY little question I could so I was VERY clear on what happens now, in fact, I asked the same thing a few times over.

By the end of our conversation she apologized for giving me the wrong information, and I thanked her for that...because really that's all I really wanted... I just wanted a sorry. It sucks that I have to upgrade my math and that I just found out about it, but at least she owned up to her mistake. We joked about her making sure when she sees my name again come across her desk that no more mistakes happen. I apologized for getting cranky with her and she said she understands why I am so upset. She thanked me for calling and getting it cleared up, and again I thanked her for owning her mistake and how much that meant to me.

I hung up the phone feeling such a weight lifted off my chest. It REALLY sucks that I have to do Math now, but I'm going to take the Accuplacer (a test that allows me to challenge my Math scores). If I pass the Accuplacer then I will instantly be accepted into the program because my average is high enough, I just have to get the Math. Now I get to go back and try to remember Grade 12 math information and Study, Study, Study hoping I can pass...ohhhh how fun!!!

So all in all I am feeling better about what has happened. I don't like what happened, but I now can deal with it because I feel like I was TRULY heard.

I HATE SIAST!!!

2008-09-15T09:38:00.004-06:00

A little history that you might know if you've been following this blog..

I applied for the Practical Nursing program in February, I knew I wouldn't get in because I didn't have a high enough grade. I didn't get in. So then after speaking to the counsellors for quite a while I was told to speak directly to Nursing admissions. In highschool I took Math 33, which was a lower level math. However, I SPECIFICALLY asked Wendy if my Math 33 was good enough and I was told it is.

So after some serious thinking I decided to upgrade my Biology since I thought reminding myself of my science might be a good idea since I was going into that field of work. Plus, my Math mark was high so I figured I didn't need to raise it more, and I didn't want to upgrade my English...yuck I hate english..hehe.

Now to 8 weeks ago. I applied for practical nursing at both Kelsey campus and Regina (online course). I got a letter 2 weeks ago from Regina saying that they didn't have my transcript, which they were suppose to request from Kelsey campus. The admissions in Regina called admissions in Saskatoon and Saskatoon told Regina that they didn't have my transcript!!!! Ummm...hello....you do have it, you denied me in Feb... accepted me into the Biology class, you have to have my transcript. I then called Saskatoon admissions and tried to convince them that my transcript was there, I am not sure why it's not now but that's not my problem. She (the lady I was talking to) decided that the file must have been pulled by someone and not put back...I am not sure how that happens when everything is computerized but whatever. So they accepted a copy of the transcript that I have.

Okay, now please remember that the Practical nursing program is a first come first serve basis if you qualify for the program. So now I am at least 6 weeks behind other people because someone at Kelsey screwed up.

On Friday, I got a letter from Regina saying that I "do not cureently meet the regular admission criteria for the program". I was upset, but figured they must have not got my Biology mark and so yes, my average wasn't high enough. I called this morning to ask her why I didn't meet the qualifications, thinking she would say that my average was too low.....OH NO!!!!!! It's because my

MATH 33 ISN'T CLASSIFIED AS A 30 MATH!!!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!????!!!!!!

Because someone TOTALLY SCREWED up and told me false information, I wasted 3 months of my life (which if you have been following this blog you know that I had a hard time going to school and missing out on being with Nathan while he started his first sport). If I would have known my MATH 33 wasn't good enough I WOULDN'T HAVE UPGRADED BIOLOGY!!!! I WOULD HAVE DONE MY MATH INSTEAD!!!!! ARRRGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!

So here I am BAWLING, devastated, FURIOUS, and I don't know what to do.

I have 2 choices now.... I can either upgrade my Math(again I am going to have to waste AT LEAST 3 months, if there is even a nighttime class) and I probably will have to wait AT LEAST until next semester to do it..... or I can take the Accuplacer which is that I can pretty much prove that I am smart enough to get into the program. Yes, this sounds like the better way....however, remember I haven't been in school for 10 years, and I will be challenged on things that I should have known in highschool. So again.... I now because of the freaking admissions at Siast waste more time studying my BUTT off to do this.

ARRGGGGG!!!!!!

I am sooooooo angry!!!!!!

Seriously, can ANYTHING else go wrong in my life?!?!?!?

My little man!!!

2008-09-10T11:33:00.003-06:00

Well today was Nate's first day of Preschool!! I woke up this morning bright and early and Nate was laying there right beside me. We cuddled for a little while and then I asked if he was ready to go to Preschool today. He said that he just wanted to stay home with me and go to Preschool on Friday...I'm sure he was a little nervous. We talked about how fun Preschool was going to be, that he was going to have a really nice teacher, that he was going to meet lot's of new friends, that there would be LOT'S of new toys to play with, and that it was going to be a lot of fun. He decided that maybe it was going to be okay and then instantly wanted me to get up and make him some pancakes. :)

Here's Nate making the pancakes (please don't mind the ugly countertops, someday they will be changed).

Nate requested "name" pancakes, which is my mom's special way to make pancakes...she use to make our inital even when I was a little kid and I was MORE than happy to carry on the tradition with Nate.
"N" for Nathan

Eating those yummy pancakes

Here's what Nate chose to have for his snack on his first day. Crackers, cheese, raisins, and apple juice...very yummy.

We then got dressed, and left for our bus run. When we got back we finished getting ready and went outside to take pictures, cause what's a first day of school without pictures :)

"P1" (I saw this idea of holding up either fingers or a sign to remember what year it was and I LOVED it)

Okay, start posing.

Quick sneeze.

Back to posing.

Then it was time to get to the school. We went in, took off Nate's shoes, put on his NEW shoes, hung up his backpack, coat and lunch kit, got his nametag, and off he went. :( I made him give me a kiss and hug goodbye, and then he left. It was SOOO awesome seeing my big boy excited to be at school.

The last peak at him and then I left.

When I picked him up he was SOOOO excited to see me and tell me all the fun they had today. They played, painted, ate snack, sat in circle time, sang songs, and then had train time. A super fun day and now he wants to know how many sleeps till Friday!!!

Ohhhh the trial's we go through!!!

2008-09-05T11:23:00.002-06:00

We have been going through a "phase" with Nathan that is far less than desirable. He can be soooo moody, whiny, stubborn, a total spaz, and just down right naughty, yes a 3 year old!! :) However, there are those moments when he is wonderful, loving, sweet, gentle, obedient, and just WONDERFUL, these moments aren't as common as I would like them to be though.

I have been pulling out my hair trying to figure out how to handle him, he seriously is one of THE MOST stubborn kids I have EVER met. But I FINALLY got on my knees and prayed for help. Yes, I know it should have been the first thing I did but I'm still learning. I've prayed for many other things but I just haven't thought to pray for Nathan and patience for me...again, I know, I know.

Well the funniest thing happened this morning. Nathan started screaming, fake crying, and just being ridiculous because he didn't want to sit in his carseat on the bus, too bad, this isn't one of those times you get to make the decision, sorry buddy. Lately when these moments happen I would have gotten just upset as him and would react to what he was doing, but today was different. Today I quietly/calmly said to the little boy that if he didn't stop spazing there would be no cartoons this morning once we got back home, and that he could make the choice to behave or no cartoons. Unfortunately, the little man kept freaking so no cartoons.

I think at this point he became the Tazmanian Devil...oh boy...did he really try to pull out every trick he has. So again, I informed him that if he didn't stop he was going to have to sit in his room when he got home. Again, the freaking out didn't stop....at this point I started to get angry, but I also had the thought going through my mind over and over again.... "Just take a deep breath, Take a deep breath.....all you need to do is take a deep breath." Anyone that has "dealt" with my child knows that at this point taking a deep breath is not the easiest thing to do, but that's what I did.... I took THE deepest breath I could, and do you know what???!??? I completely calmed down. Crazy hey!!!???!!! For all you perfect parents out there I know that I am behind the times but again, I am trying to learn and grow too :)

I sat there and just ignored the screaming, in fact I hummed a few hymns one being Did you think to Pray...hehe...the spazing got worse than it ever has before, and then all of a sudden it stopped. Oh the peace and quiet, and it wasn't a second too soon because I then opened the door to let my first kids on the bus.

When we got home Nate went into his room and had to miss watching his favorite cartoon, but he has been a WONDERFUL little boy this morning.

Someday, maybe when he's a teenager, I am sure I will look back and laugh, maybe, but until then I will just Remember to Pray!!!

Some of my favorite websites!!!

2008-08-21T16:17:00.003-06:00

I have a few websites (Wayne might disagree with a few though) that I LOVE to check out and I thought it might be fun to share them with you...maybe you can enjoy them too.

This first website/blog is BY FAR my favorite.... The Pioneer Woman also known as Ree is HILARIOUS. She is blunt, quirky, caring, city girl turned country wife (oh,the things she has had to learn).... I could go on and on but you just have to go and see for yourself. **Just a little warning, all dial-up users, Ree is picture happy***She has a "confessions" part which is the day to day life of the farm/family. She has a cooking section that oh my goodness....if you don't want your arteries to clog then don't bother cooking most of her recipes.....but let me warn you, they are SOOOO good.....Penne A La' Betsy is my FAVORITE....SOOO YUMMY!!! She has a photography section that teaches you photography tricks (go figure) as well as Photoshop tricks... very fun!! And she has a Home/Garden section where recently she has been showing the renos of the guest ranch house....SERIOUSLY I love this website.

Another website that I LOVE is Tip Junkie. The website is well...filled with tips. Laurie covers everything from baby showers to yummy foods (the tips are submitted by all the creative people in the world). It is filled with AWESOME tips, I seriously have found TONS of neat things, and wonderful ideas. Ohhhh... if only I had 30 hours a day...I could actually use some of these awesome tips.. someday....

A website I just found but really enjoy is Food and Garden Dailies...She has a BEAUTIFUL garden but the reason I LOVE the blog is because of all the yummy freezer meals she has. What is a freezer meal you ask?!? Well if you've ever made a meal and made a 2nd batch of it to freeze, that's a freezer meal. I LOVE making freezer meals...Another way you can do freezer meals I did a few years ago...I found about 5 recipes that could be frozen (they "looked" yummy). I bought all my ingredients (you bulk buy things and try to use the same ingredients in multiple meals, like chicken in 3 recipes, etc.). I decided I was going to really get a good bang for my buck and quadrupled all the recipes. I spent a WHOLE entire day chopping, sauteing(sp?),cooking, tasting, washing pots/pans/dishes, and making enough food to feed 100 people for a week. I froze all the food in ziploc bags, and fell in bed exhausted. A few weeks later I was ready to see the food again and took out some chicken "pocket" type things with a cream cheese/chicken filling....they were DISGUSTING!!!! Seriously...they were SOOOO gross. The other meals were just okay, and I vowed to NEVER make a recipe in bulk sizes until after I had tried them on a single meal size first. I finally have gotten the nerve to start testing recipes again and today I made twice baked potatoes and flash froze them (I'll fill you in on that one later) so we will see how they turn out after I thaw some and cook them. In the next little while I'll post some of the yummy foods that I have tested, that work and stay yummy after frozen. I love cooking like this because it's nice after a long day to be able to pull something out of the freezer, cook it and have a simple dish and no pots and pans to clean later (usually).

So these are just a few of the many websites I LOVE.... I look at quite a few friend blogs on a regular basis, and especially LOVE photography blogs but I'll save those for another day (maybe).

So leave a comment and link me to some of the websites that you like to look at... I always enjoy fun finds.

Just a test!!

2008-08-18T14:28:00.002-06:00

I am trying to figure out some of the "tricks" of the blogging world and have seen people link to other's websites all the time so I figured I would try it.

So this is a website that I LOVE. The Nester has such creative and a neat style and I really enjoy her website.... I wish my house could be as pretty...maybe someday...

Well hopefully that worked... I guess we will see... I actually think it would be fun to show you guys some places that I like to spend my online time...I think that will be another day because a nap is calling me.

This is one post that I hope NEVER happens....well....kinda....

2008-08-15T20:09:00.002-06:00

I wasn't going to post this cause I am hoping not to jinx us, but it's been happening too much lately, and I want to look back some day and say either... "I told you so", or "Thank goodness"

A few weeks ago my mom called me and while we were talking she informed me that at church she was just sitting there and all of a sudden she had an "inspiration"/feeling/whatever. She said that just as clear as day she felt....Jackie is going to have triplets, did you catch that TRIPLETS!!!! AGGGHHH!!!! Now my mom has always known what we are all having...did she know Eli was a boy... I don't remember...but she knew Kar was having a girl, a boy for us and I'm pretty sure she knew Ethan was a boy.

What really freaked me out was that the day before I was just thinking about random things, and then I thought...hmm.... I wonder if my mom is going to be able to take off 6 weeks of work when we have the triplets, are they going to pay her, will she be able to stay the whole time 'cause I'm going to need her.... I stopped myself in these thoughts because well.... I felt like puking...hehe...sort of.

My mom had a good laugh at my expense when she informed me of her feeling, I didn't think it was that funny. She'll be the one laughing when she is holding 3 screaming babies.

So I just let this all pass and haven't really thought about it too much...until tonight....

Wayne informed me that today as he was walking down the hall at work he thought "Hmmm....I can't wait to tell everyone at work that we are having triplets!!!" AGGHHHHH!!!!! I think I am going to go the nun route....celibacy sounds GREAT right now...

I am not sure if Heavenly Father is preparing us for having 3, so if we see 3 heartbeats at the ultrasound our hearts don't stop... or if it's just one of his little jokes (I totally think Heavenly Father has a sense of humour)....but whatever it is it sure is making my beautiful hair turn gray. :)

Now to be completely honest with you... I would LOVE to have twins or triplets. No, I am not dillusional right now, I have always wanted 4 kids, and well Wayne and I are tired of trying so why not have just 1 more pregnancy and have 3 and there you go 1+3=4!!! I am sure that it would be CRAZY amounts of work but I really think it could be a ton of fun. Maybe I am dillusional.... whatever it is... when we finally get pregnant I can guarantee you I am going to be FREAKING out when we go for the ultrasound!!! :)

WOW!!! I must be making up for the last month.

2008-08-06T22:29:00.002-06:00

I feel like I have been posting like crazy the last few days....oh wait... I have been posting like crazy. There are sooooo many thoughts running through my mind right now... I have soooooooo many pictures that I want to post from our adventures in July.

But in the meantime... I found this fun little questionare. If you want to do it as well on your blog, let me know you did so I can see the fun stuff about you.

Q: What television show or movie did you want to be in when you were little?
A: I TOTALLY wanted to be in Dirty Dancing....isn't that horrible...I LOVED LOVED LOVED the dancing, especially the skanky club scenes ;)

Q: Which character or star did you want to be when you were little?
A: I again wanted to be Baby.... the water scene was just too much.... RRAARR!!!

Q. Most embarrassing moment your friends will never let die?
A. Oh I am sure there are A LOT of embarrassing moments that many of my friends won't let me forget...I can be a TOTAL blonde sometimes... but I have great friends that let me pretend like I am normal. (If you want to share a few of my embarrassing moments....here's your chance)

Q: Your proudest moment or accomplishment?
A: Wow, probably being a mom is my biggest accomplishment. A recent proudest moment for me was right before we came home from Alberta, my Grandma and Grandpa Butler stopped by to say Goodbye. My Grandpa (Grandpa Great) had gone with my Dad and Nate to go fishing (a special tradition that happens when the kids turn 3). I was really worried that Nathan would misbehave, but my Grandpa calmed my fears. He pulled me aside and said how impressed he was with my little boy, Nathan was incredibly polite and was always saying "Yes please" "No Thanks" I can totally admit this was a mommy proud moment...Great Job little guy!!!

Q: What adult did you have a crush on when you were little?
A: Again, Patrick Swayze (I still think he's hot).

Q: What habit or personality trait do you have of your mother?
A: I am calm, stress free, and patient just like my mom....haha...NOT!!! My mom is DEFINATELY those things, I am exact opposite, but I would love to be like that. I think though that I get my caring heart from my mom, she REALLY does care about everyone... she is the kindest person I know.

Q: What did you want to change your name to when you were little?
A: Hmmm.... this is a good one... I actually remember signing my name to see how it would "look" with EVERY boyfriend I ever had.

Q: Who was your first kiss?
A: First real kiss was a guy named Mike H. My first kiss that I truly enjoyed was with a guy named AJ L.

Q: What are 3 adjectives that someone from high school or middle school would use to describe you?
A: Outgoing, Missing, Fun (are those adjectives ?) :)

Q: What hairstyle, clothes, or other accessories did you rock back in the day when it was cool?
A: Oh I had older cousins that were soooo cool so I copied EVERY style they did... I had the tie-dye shirts, the huge socks that were pushed down, the folded and then rolled jeans (if you even know what I am talking about you were around in the 80's), the big wave of bangs, the wings...oh I could go on and on and on...but I think that's enough embarrasment for one question.

Q: What job did those long and annoying surveys in school say you would be good at?
A: Hmmm... I think it actually said a hairdresser, or another profession that worked with people. I am a hairdresser, and I will be working with people as a nurse so I guess it was true.

Q: And what did you try and make the test result outcome be?
A: A doctor.

Q: What made you laugh harder than you have ever laughed before?
A: Wayne's dances... Roaring... cruising in Lethbridge...

Q: Favorite memories of hanging out with your best friends?
A: Karaoke and King Crab legs, Roaring, Friend's night with our big coffee cups filled with hot chocolate/hot apple cider.

Q: What is the most trouble you have ever gotten in with your parents?
A: Oh man, I was not a good teenager, so I am sure there were plenty of times. I really don't remember anything in particular.....maybe I have blocked out those painful memories.

Q: What was your 5-year plan when you had to write it out in high school?
A: I wanted to be a teacher for kids that are deaf....probably wanted to be married, and already have 3 kids.. :)

Q: What is your 5-year plan now?
A: Get my nursing degree, have another baby, enjoy my family, go on a fun trip with just Wayne, but mainly be living the life I am right now.

Is it bad to ask for prayers again?!?

2008-08-06T16:15:00.002-06:00

I feel like I am being selfish, but the prayers really seemed to work when I had my surgery so maybe it can definately work for us now. :)

Today I went to see our Specialist again. We are finally moving on in our journey towards having another baby, which I am soooo relieved about. We are going to be doing Intrauterine Insemenation. From what my dr. says
****Disclaimer**** If there are any guys reading this or girls that don't like to talk about "that" stuff you might not want to read this next part :) Just so you are warned!!!

What happens is at the beginning of my cycle I take Clomid (that's what I have been on for this last year) which will help my follicles (where the eggs are) start developing and cooking the eggs. I will then have an ultrasound to see how and if any follicles are developing. If there are some follicles developing then I will get a shot in my muscle which will hopefully make those follicles pop and let the egg/s start going on their trip..:) Now, 24-48 hours after the shot a sperm donation will be made on behalf of my sweet hubby, this will be "washed" ,the sperm will be seperated from the semen (did you know they were different things?) the dead sperm will be removed and only the striving strong sperm will be kept. (Did you know they can also seperate the male sperm from the female sperm at this point? Hmm... I wonder how much I would have to pay off the people to only insert female sperm :) J/K..I'll take whatever I get!! ) The sperm will then be put in a turkey baster(not really, but close enough) and put into my uterus. So this is the procedure...my oh my... it seems like a lot of work.. I will definately be spending A LOT of time at the dr.'s office/hospital during this time, but hopefully it will FINALLY be all worth it.

I am very VERY excited about moving on... and I hope and pray this step works because unfortunately this is the last thing that we can do before IVF (Invitro Fertilization) and if you know anyone that's done this you will know that you pay A LOT of money (which we don't have right now) to hopefully get pregnant (like $10,000 per try).

So this is where the prayers request comes in again. We would really appreciate if you kept us in your prayers and thoughts hopefully things might happen!!

Pirates of Lake Koocanusa

2008-08-05T17:11:00.002-06:00

For my parents 30th wedding anniversary, my parents, all my siblings, their spouses (and soon to be spouse) ;), and all the kids spent a week together in a houseboat at Lake Koocanusa. I must say that it was one of the BEST holidays I have EVER been on. It has been YEARS since my family has gone on vacation together... in fact, I think the last time was when we took Russell to the mission home. So it was just a lot of fun spending time together, not only as our original family but also with all our loved ones that have joined our family over the last 5 years.

The houseboat was (I believe) a 15 passenger boat, we had 10 adults and 5 kids, 2 of which were babies. Each family got their own room which was soooo nice, and then there was a fair size kitchen/living room area, 2 bathrooms, and an upstairs deck that even had a hottub which was used quite a bit.

The first day we got there we unloaded the vehicles, loaded the boat, picked our rooms, Dad was taught how to drive and then we were off. We found a GREAT beach, docked the boat in the sand (it was fun watching our big tough husbands anchor the boat to the beach) and then we started our week of fun.

We spent a lot of time playing on the beach, floating in the cool water, cooling off in the houseboat, watching movies, napping, eating (oh the food was SOOOOO good), and just having a grand ol' time.

We had a few accidents, Steven tried to kill Beth but Beth won (FYI, Steven is probably double the size of Beth, but Beth is FEISTY) Because of this altercation a hospital was visited which was good 'cause Lisa and Mom learned how to do stitches. Then Eli decided to prove that the fireplace hearth was not a good place to fall, but all in all, everyone came home in one piece probably a lot fatter but in one piece. :)

I took some pictures with my camera but I used Lisa's and Dad's (aka, spoiled brats...j/k) new cameras to take most of the pictures of the week. So until I get a cd of the pics...hint hint Dad... I can only post the ones I have from my camera. Probably the best part of the week (other than being with family) was when the kids found a TREASURE MAP... but stayed tuned.... that story and pictures will have to wait... again until I get the cd... :)

I should add the theme of the week was PIRATES... Beth and I made an AWESOME pirate flag, Mom and Dad(mostly Dad) went overboard on the pirate gear (swords, hooks, eyepatches, etc. etc.) and the kids went CRAZY!!!! Seriously, they all LOVED playing pirates, well I guess the big kids did, the little guys were happy eating sand, right Ethan. :)

Pirate Grandma on the prowl:

AHHH Protect your fort (I love Nate's look in this pic)!!!:

ATTACK!!!:

What a cutie, seriously, this kid is such a poser, everytime I would pull out the camera he'd give me this face.... such a sweetie:

The whole family (minus Dennis, Karalee's fiance) on our last day, right before heading back to reality:

We also stopped in Sparwood to take pictures by the world's biggest truck, Nathan thought it was a big Tonka truck.

Again, what's with this cute kid popping up in all my pics?!?:

The 3 cousins (we were missing Destiny and Ethan, they were party poopers... or at least their parents were):

Seriously, stay tuned... we had a lot of fun that week, and there are TONS more pictures and stories that I would LOVE to post.

Memory Tag!!!

2008-07-31T22:37:00.001-06:00

MEMORY TAG!!!1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. I can't wait to see what people remember.

***If you haven't ever met me, I would love to know what your favorite post has been*** :)

I have been SUCH a slacker!!!

2008-07-30T11:28:00.002-06:00

After some people thought I fell off the earth I realized that I haven't posted here for over a month!! So much has been happening this last month: we spent a week on a houseboat with my whole family, that's right 10 adults & 5 kids... it was SOOO much fun!!!, I spent an additional week at my parent's house which is ALWAYS nice, Nathan got to go fishing all by himself with Grandpa Butler and Grandpa Great Butler and caught 3 FISH!!!, we came home and have now started taking care of one of my friend's 2 kids Decie & Dayton.

We have been SOOO busy trying to get house projects done that we've been putting off....hint hint Wayne... I would really like my 2nd bathroom back!! ;)

I have TONS of pictures I want to post about all our little adventures, but I haven't even put them on my computer yet...I'm so bad. So stay tuned!!!

Thankyou!!!

2008-06-25T13:15:00.002-06:00

Well I had my surgery yesterday and it actually went pretty well. I was extremely nervous to go in but they put the IV line in quickly and next thing I knew I could taste garlic (that's what I always taste when the anesthetic starts kicking in). I said to the dr. "Are you putting me to sleep already?" They said yes, and all I had time to say was "See ya later" and I was asleep.

I woke up a few hours later and actually felt really good. So here's where the thankyou comes in. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, I have been under anesthetic 3 times previous to this time and everytime I have been EXTREMELY sick afterwards. But this time everything was different. I wasn't nauseous at all, I was tired but after resting for awhile felt pretty great. I am pretty sore so they must have done quite a bit of work on me, but hopefully it means that things will start working like they are suppose to.

So again, thankyou so much, I am feeling pretty great and I really am glad this happened when it did and we didn't have to wait 6 months for it.

Would ya, Could ya??!??

2008-06-19T09:12:00.001-06:00

As you know on Tuesday I am going in for surgery, and I'm wondering if you could all could pray that everything will go well, I'll heal quickly (I want to go tubing/waterskiing/wakeboarding in 2 weeks), and that it will work and we will be able to have another baby!!!!

I would REALLY appreciate it!!!

I'm DONE!!!!

2008-06-19T09:03:00.002-06:00

That's right, I am finally done my Biology class!!! It is soooo weird to not have to go to school tonight... I don't know what I am going to do with myself.

I really don't care if I am bragging or not, but I finished with a 94% average!!!! I am soooo excited. I brought my highschool average up 7%.

This class has meant SOOO much to me... as I have said before I skipped a lot my last year of highschool, and my average was VERY low. For years I have known that I am smart, but having those low marks hang over me has made me feel like I wasn't and that I couldn't ever get into anything that I really wanted to. I needed this class to prove to myself that I am smart and that I can do WHATEVER I want in life. My mommy brain is gone and now I have a functioning, able to remember things longer than 20 minutes brain.

Our class was fabulous...there were a ton of really fun girls and 2 guys in our class that made for such an enjoyable time... I actually am going to miss seeing everyone. Last night we went out for "drinks" to celebrate being done, it was a lot of fun and our teacher even came and joined in the festivities!!!! Speaking of my teacher, she was AWESOME!!! She really cared about how we did and made it so I enjoyed learning about Photosynthesis, and Cell Structure...hehe...

Anywho...I'm done, and now to apply for NURSING!!!! YAY!!!!!

Well this is it!!!

2008-06-13T11:51:00.002-06:00

I just got a call from my specialists office and they told me that there was a cancellation on the 24th and they can move my surgery into that spot, I was suppose to be waiting for 6 months.....AGGHHHH!!!! I am freaking out...there is sooo much to do in the next 1.5 weeks.

The surgery I am having is an exploratory surgery, it's going to be laproscopic and they are going to be looking in the uterus as well as at my ovaries to see if they can see why I haven't been able to get pregnant. If they find problems they will also be fixing them at this point, for instance, if I have quite a few cysts(sp?) they will remove them.

I HATE having surgery....I get REALLY sick from the anethesia and this last time I went under (when I got my gallbladder removed) they had a hard time waking me up, I remember the worry sound of the nurse as she firmly and quite loudly was telling me I needed to wake up and shaking me....now that I am a mom the thought of going to sleep and not waking up again is EXTREMELY worrying to me. I know that I am probably just freaking out but it's just an intense worry I have.

I am nervous too because this is THE NEXT STEP!!! This is the step that we have been waiting for for over a year and now it's here. I was hoping/praying that we would get pregnant in these next 6 months so that I wouldn't have to go through this, but now there's no time. I am hoping more than anything that it's going to work and we'll get pregnant, but I am SOOOO nervous that it won't!!! I know it's worth every moment of pain and worry that I might have however the thought is always in the back of my mind that I shouldn't get my hopes up, because who knows.

Okay, I am just really nervous and really needed to "talk" so I figured I "talk" with all my blogging friends. :)

Today

2008-06-08T16:01:00.002-06:00

Today I feel: like if I could look into the future then my soul would be at ease. Unfortunately, I can't do that so I have to put my faith in my Heavenly Father, and today I feel that I am too weak to do that. So today I will just pray for the strength to keep going, and I know maybe tomorrow I'll be able to be stronger, just not today.

Today I see: a clean, freshly washed earth, luscious green grass, an incredible blue sky masked by quickly moving marshmallow clouds, you know the ones that you would love to just fall asleep in because they have to be so comfy, if only.....

Today I need: my husband, I need his strength, his kindness, his loyalty, his dumb jokes, just him.

Today I want: to enjoy my little guy. Enjoy his hugs, his kisses, his twirling of my hair, his smell, his smile, just every bit of him.

Today I hope: for one more day, so that I can learn and grow, love and enjoy, laugh and cry, kiss and hug, be.

I'm on a roll!!

2008-06-06T14:36:00.003-06:00

So I'm copying Christal again but I thought it would be fun to have Friday be Favorite Things Friday!!!

I was looking through some quotes the other day and came across this quote :

Live like noone else, so someday you can live like noone else.

I REALLY needed to read this quote especially lately. Wayne and I are VERY blessed to live a very comfortable life, however, we live within our means. My biggest thing lately is I really WANT new furniture for our basement. We have some passed down, old, ugly, ripped fabric, stuffing falling out coaches downstairs that we got shortly after we got married, and have really appreciated for the last 5 years. Everytime I go downstairs though I cringe, I really hate the couches, but right now buying ourselves new couches is not in the budget. Yes, we could go and get credit from a store and "buy" the furniture but Wayne and I both intensely feel that we don't want to go into debt about our wants. This is SOOOOO hard though. I see soooo many people around us that have beautiful house, beautiful furniture, perfect clothes, fake nails, etc. etc. and I would LLLLOOOVVVEEEE to have all these things but that is totally my natural man/woman coming out in me. Don't get me wrong, I do feel that it is important to have the nice things in life but I also think it's important to have savings, have security, have investments, invest in Nate's schooling, and be debt free. We chose to lose an income so that I could stay home with my son, and we had to make some changes in our lifestyle but there is nothing better than knowing that we were able to do it and I am doing what I have ALWAYS really wanted to do. So yes, we are living like noone else (or at least not like the majority of people in the world) so that someday we can live like noone else.

Okay, now that my rant is over there are some things that I really do covet and someday when I am finished school and working again maybe, just maybe I can splurge a little bit. :)

Oh be still my beating heart!!! When I decided to do this Favorite Things Friday list I knew INSTANTLY what my first thing would be. AMY BUTLER FABRIC!!!! I am IN LOVE with beautiful fabrics!!! I have been coveting Amy Butler fabric for the last...oh I don't know...5 years 6 weeks and 2 days....hehe...just kidding but I really do LOVE her fabric. The colors are always SOOO BEAUTIFUL!!! the fabric feels top notch quality, I just really love the fabric. However, this is one of those things that right now is a TOTAL WANT not a need as this fabric is quite a bit more expensive than the fabric I normally buy. I have SOOOO many ideas in my mind about the beautiful things I could make with all this fabric, if I have a baby girl, this want maybe become a need....hehe... Here are just a few samples of her gorgeous fabric, if you want to see more you can google Amy Butler.

This is another want that I haven't fulfilled yet, but this is something that I really really might have to save all my pennies to get...hehe. The other day I saw a lady at Costco wearing this and I fell in love with it instantly. It's a lululemon jacket, looks pretty normal in the front but in the back is a beautiful little ruffle detail midback (I can't copy the pic, but here's the link:http://www.lululemon.com/products/womens/tops/jackets_vests/glamorous%20jacket). I LOVE the back and again this is on the top of my favorite list!! :)

Now some of my favorite things that I actually do own :)

I have eczema and if I am in soapy water, or anything that has chemicals in it too long the eczema really flairs up. I have tried for years and years to find a handsoap that doesn't kill my hands and Fruits & Passion's Cucina handsoap (I LOVE the lime zest & cypress fragrance, it's green) this is the first soap that works, doesn't react with my skin, it contains olive oil which leaves my hands soooo soft, and smells INCREDIBLE.

I stopped in the Adidas Outlet store a few weeks ago looking for shoes for Nate and found some super cute shoes for myself. They look very similar to this pair but my stripes are green and blue plaid.....I LOVE THEM!!!!

Well, Nate's up now so I should skadoodle!!

A new woman!!

2008-06-06T13:24:00.002-06:00

I am now officially 5 lbs lighter than Wayne has ever seen me.... actually 5 lbs lighter than most of you out there have ever seen me before. I am feeling great, and only have 12 lbs to go to hit my goal weight. Now that I am getting to this size though, I think my goal weight might be changed to less because I still feel like I have quite a ways to go.

I know that I will NEVER be skinny skinny because I don't have that body type, but I am still really jiggly and smooshy(I have been working on that though) and I really want to look and feel the best that I can. Who knows, maybe in 12 lbs I won't want to get any smaller and will be happy where I am .......12 lbs.......that's sooo not far off after losing 34 lbs. 12 lbs is about a 1/3 of what I have already lost.... WOOHOOO!!!

YUMMY!!!!

2008-06-05T13:33:00.003-06:00

So there's this big health craze going on that I have been WAY too scared to try, but today I took the plunge and boy oh boy!!!!!.........I am sure glad that I did.

What is this big scary thing you say?!?

Well it's.......

Green Drinks!!!!(this picture is not my drink but looks JUST like the drink I made)

Now before you run out of here screaming, hear me out.

First, I'll tell you about the health benefits of drinking these regularly, some of the benefits are:
-they contain high amounts of fiber
-they contain chlorophyl, which is very good for the blood
- they are great for immunity and help to heal diseases
-they help cleanse the body of bad toxins
- they don't contain oil or salt and only natural sugars

Plus, they taste FABULOUS!!!, they are crazy easy to make, it makes me feel sooo good that I know that I am putting good food into my body, if you call it green slime your kids might try it and then once they do they are stuck as they are sooo yummy.

So how do you make green smoothies. I made mine by taking 3 big handful of fresh spinach...yes spinach,I love the big bags from Costco ,I think it's like $4.00/bag. Now I did this in little handfuls at a time because my blender sucks, plus I added about 1/4 cup of water(only add the water once) to help it blend better and continue doing this till all the spinach was blended smooth. I then threw in chunks of fresh pineapple (about 1.5 cups) but you could totally put in as much as you want, and 2 ripe bananas (the bananas add the sweetness to the smoothie, and when they are ripe they have more antioxidants in them than unripe bananas). I blended this all together until it was smooth and then enjoyed!!!! It made a huge glass, plus a little extra for Nate. Next time I will make it early and then throw it in the fridge to chill, but I couldn't wait it was soooo good.

You can make this with any fruit or any green leafs you like and if you google green smoothis the possibilites are endless. Here's a link to some ideas:http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&thread_id=2574925

I hope you trust me and try it, I am sure you will like them, plus it's the perfect time of the year for yummy cold smoothies especially if they will help you look better in your swimsuit ;)

Just something to put down

2008-06-01T21:56:00.002-06:00

Christal did this little questionnare and I thought it was sort of fun so since I have been trying to figure out things to write on here so why not do this one. :) If you want to do this one too all you have to do is answer the question only using one word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? upstairs
2. Your significant other? fencing
3.Your hair? messy
4. Your mother? PERFECT
5. Your father? Hardworker
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? weird
8. Your favorite drink? Virgin strawberry daiquiri (sp?) Sorry that's 3 words ;)
9. Your dream/goal? Happiness
10. The room you're in? boring
11. Your children?WONDERFUL
12. Your fear? Failure
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Secure
14. Where were you last night? Supper
15. What you're not? Finished
16. Muffins? Pumpkin Spice (sorry that was 2 words)
17. One of your wish list items? Baby
18. Where you grew up?Alberta
19. What you read last? Blogs
20. What are you wearing? PJ's
21. Your TV? boring
22. Your pets? dreams
23. Your computer? Useful
24. Your life? Busy
25. Your mood? emotional
26. Missing someone? Hubby
27. Your car? LOVE
28. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
29. Favorite Store? Pottery Barn
30. Your summer?.Busy
31. Like someone? Hubby
32. Your favorite color?Blue/Pink
33. Last time you laughed? Tonight
34. Last time you cried? Today