{Making my home a HOME}

I have to show you all what i am working on. I am REALLY trying to make my home a HOME. Trying to do it cheap! So, take a look at what i am working on AND how much i paid for it all!! EEEEE...i am so excited. :) I am so excited b/c i have never done stuff like this and now that i am, i am LOVING it! SERIOUSLY, loving it. My uncle owns a consignment furniture store. He and my cousins are extremely good at designing. I wish i lived near them. He has awesome stuff that kind of reminds me of inspiredroom.com and a few other design blogs i like. Anyway, i will see them this weekend and all i can say is i am going to have waaaaayyyyy too much fun in his shop! :) i cannot wait! i will show you what i get when we get back! :)

Warning! Pics are not that great! sorry!

First up....this framed mirror i bought for $5.00 at a garage sale! It's a good size and heavy duty. $5.00!! I already had the black paint for this. I bought some sandpaper, which is like $2.00. Cheap. So, total for this i spent $7.00

BEFORE: AFTER: I distressed the mirror, but still have to add some finishing touches to the parts i distressed. I have plans for this mirror, which i will show you after i get it all set up where i want it.



NEXT UP: I have plans for these cute four pieces of scrap paper. I will show you when i am done!! :)

THIRD: I have plans for this weird hanging wall thing. I got this at a garage sale about 4 years ago b/c i liked something about it. After i got it home i didn't like it much. Never used it really. Soooooo, i am going to paint this(something other than black) and turn it into a chalkboard for my kitchen!! I will show you that when i am done!

I bought this frame for $5.00. BEFORE:

AFTER:

I have big plans for this thing! I will show you after i do it! :) This frame is LARGE...if you can't tell! Oh i cant wait!



I bought this for .25 cents at a garage sale. It was old ugly gold color. So cute now. I will show you where i put this when i get everything set up! :)

{The ThReE StooGeS}

This boy is C...R...AAAAAA...ZY. He is nothing like his other two brothers. He is extremely picky about what he wears(and with a lot of other things too!). EXTREMELY. It's a fight everytime we have to leave b/c i go in and grab something cute for him to wear and tell him to put it on, but he cries b/c he doesn't want to wear it. I tell him to hurry up and pick something then. I usually give him enough warning so he will have time to get dressed, but he loses focus so quickly and by the time we are leaving he still isn't dressed. It takes him F000RRR......EVVVVV....ERRRR to pick something out and most of the time he CANNOT find what he WANTS to wear b/c its usually in the dirty laundry. He wears something ONCE and it's dirty. It's impossible for anything of his to be worn a second time without getting washed first. He noticed there was a little rip near the seam of his underwear. I said, "oh, its alright you won't even realize it." He started fussing, "Noooo, i don't want to wear them anymore!" He is very particular about his shoes too. Like, one day he wants to wear flip flops, but the next day he feels like wearing shoes. And he always wants to wear shoes when we are in a hurry and its darn hot out. I say "Tanner, its so hot out, just wear flip flops." He starts crying, "But i don't want to. I want to wear my shoes!" One time we put him in one of his basketball outfits. The jersey shirt and shorts to go with it. He didn't like that we put him in that. He cried out the door, cried in the car the whole way to the store....he kept saying "I don't want people to see me!!" When we went into the store he would try to hide behind me so that people wouldn't see him. I have NO CLUE where he got this from! I mean, i feel bad for him that he feels so insecure about going out in public in something he doesn't want to wear. It's sad, but there are times where he just can't pick out what he wants to wear...i have to pick it out in order to get out the door. Sometimes his sock isn't "on right". I put his shoe on and he starts fussing b/c something is bothering him. We take the shoe off, he adjusts his sock about 2 millimeters and then he is fine. It is so funny to me. He is pretty particular about a lot of things, not just clothes. But i just wanted to write how he is about clothes b/c that part of him is something we deal with every single day.

Here is Gavin. He wants to show everyone his new backpack and lunch pack. He saw pictures of his friend Avery with her new backpack and it made him all excited and he said, "Mom, you have to take pictures of me with my new backpack!" He figured out how he wanted to pose....after i took the picture he said, "let me see!" I would show him what it looks like and if he didn't like it he would say, "Let's take a different one...this time my backpack needs to show more." And then he would pose himself. It was so funny.

Here is Jaydon chilling on the counter. He likes to climb up on the counter and just hang out and then he jumps off when he is done. He is so funny. I am totally kidding. haha. No, actually, shane had to set him up there and is just to the left of him. He liked being up there. This kid is quite a funny character! Just so squeezable. I can't get enough of him. And it's impossible to go out in public and nobody come up to him and tell him how cute he is. He is like a magnet. He loves walking around in just a diaper only. I don't know if i put this in my blog yet, but i have gone in to get him out of his bed a few times and he is just laying there NAKED, chillin. It's quite funny.

{30}

HAPPY 30th Birthday Honey BUNS! I can't believe my husband is 30!! Life really has creeped upon us REALLY fast! I CAN'T believe how fast our life has gone by so far. I am fixing is second favorite meal for dinner(couldn't make his favorite b/c it costs too much) and making him one of his favorite cakes...and bought him his favorite ice cream! FOOD is a gift around here. We LoVe a good home cooked meal.... aaaand a yummy sweet treat to go with it. Not to sound like i am bragging, BUT i think these boys in this house are lucky and spoiled. I try to fix great homecooked meals every night. And i would say i do a pretty good job! :) hehehe.... i LOVE to cook. I NEVER thought i would say that! BUT at the same time, i don't ALWAYS enjoy cooking. I get sick of it once in awhile. Oh how I do love cooking a new recipe or a meal that has great smells to it from all the spices and herbs. There is nothing better. I like to make my meals PERFECTION. And when i know food is such a huge deal to men...well, i know i am doing at least ONE thing in this house right. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, right!? We only eat out about twice a month. I always have dinner on the table for them each night. These boys are spoiled. I don't like baking much. Don't know why, i just don't. Maybe it's b/c i feel like i can't experiment with baking like i can with cooking. Good thing i don't like baking much b/c otherwise we would all bloat up! Anyway, i am getting off the topic here!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHANE! WE LOVE YOU! AND YOU DON'T LOOK 30!
Here are 30 things about Shane that maybe most people don't know....
1. He loves to harrass and tease. YOu can't take him seriously. If you've ever thought "is he serious?" Chances are... NO he wasn't serious. :)
2. He has lost some weight...He is weighing in at 192 lbs.!
3. He loves basketball....i bet nobody knew that one. :)
4. He is an AWESOME basketball player.
5. He teaches Institute every Tuesday night and the students get college credit for it. He really loves teaching it. I know b/c he comes home every night telling me how much he enjoyed the people and teaching.
6. He has A LOT of faith. He is a rock. He has been my rock.
7. He doesn't mind going shopping with me. Whether its grocery shopping or clothes shopping for any of us, he doesn't mind coming along. I know, i am lucky! :)
8. He does the laundry, makes our bed, and cleans our room. I mean, i do it sometimes depending on how busy he is, but that is usually his job. I love it b/c those are the responsibilities i hate the most.
9. He is a big time home body. He loves being home with his family.
10. He has a good singing voice.
11. He has the best , most well-intentioned heart out of anyone i know.
12. He would do ANYTHING for me. :)
13. He has a huge scar on his foot where he had about ten stitches(i think).
14. He can't change a poopy diaper without gagging.(He has gotten a little better than before)
15. He is a BUSY body. He is always GO GO GO.
16. He is a pretty terrible sleeper. He tosses and turns a lot and wakes up way too early.
17. He grinds his teeth in the night.
18. He is a very orderly and organized person.
19. He loves to make us laugh....yeah, he can do some pretty silly, funny, and weird things. Stuff most of you will never and have never seen. :) hahaha!
20. He checks our bank accounts at least twice a day.
21. He doesn't put up with crap.
22. He loves traveling.
23. The two things he would have done if he weren't a dentist....a travel agent or a veterinarian.
24. He is very good at wheeling and dealing. And good about budgeting finances.
25. He DOES NOT procrastinate. He gets things done quick.
26. He stayed an extra few months on his mission, past the two year mark, because he loved it so much, and after that extension was up he asked if he could stay longer, but they denied him another extension and told him it was time for him to go home. He was an amazing missionary.
27. He is an amazing speaker. I love when he speaks with the spirit and with his heart. He is definitely one of the best speakers i know. He just draws you in.
28. He DOES NOT like being the center of attention.
29. He loves me more than i have ever seen anyone love someone.
30. HE LOVES shoes.
i will post some pics of his b-day in a few days.

{New things goin on 'round here}

So, first i will start with Gavin...he started school yesterday. Sorry folks, not many pics. I used the video camera for that day! :) I walked him to the door and he was walking with a purpose to that door! I told him i love him and to have fun...he just said "ok" walked through that door and didn't look back. He loved it. He is LOVING kindergarten. He didn't miss us. His favorite part about his first day was dancing. He said they all went to the gym and danced and they all were laughing. He thought it was tons of fun. And it seems like the thing he liked most about his second day was playing the instruments. He said that everyone wanted to play the drums. And he said that all of them were laughing so hard again. He loved it.

Now that he is in Kindergarten, i notice how much QUIETER my days are. I think i am not like most mom's. I don't feel a sadness with him at school. I don't think there is anything wrong with that though. I am excited for him, and for me. Of course i get sentimental thinking about how he is growing and getting big. I can't believe he is in all day school now. It's crazy to me. BUT, I was excited for him to start for various reasons. 1. He WANTED to start. 2. He needs to stay busy constantly and i can't provide that for him. 3. He needs friends. 4. I was excited to have two at home to get some relief. 5. We both needed it and we both wanted it. It was time.

Next is little Tanner. I am doing my Blue Lion Preschool with him. He loves it, BUT there are things i notice right off hand about him. I cannot keep his attention. His mind wonders too much. He is thinking about other things...and unless i am really enthusiastic and have something totally EXCITING to keep him entertained OR something HE WANTS to do, then its hard keeping his attention. He has a HARD time focusing. If i try "Teaching", his mind is somewhere else within 2-3 seconds. So, i am learning QUICKLY how to teach him...learning how to be a teacher. But, what was exciting is that he remembered the letter 'A', remembered the sound that it makes and knows how to write it on paper. So, that is good. BUT he couldn't remember the square shape. We did a square hunt around the house. Basically we just found things in the house that are shaped like squares. He did great at finding them. BUT everytime i asked him what shape it was or Gavin asked him about what shape he learned or daddy asked him, his response was "I don't remember." :) haha...I am going to have to learn patience. I never thought i could teach a child b/c i wouldn't have the patience b/c of things like that. I know, its so silly of me, right? Well, thats me. He loves preschool though. And he is doing pretty good. He likes to tell Gavin what he did "at school" and gavin tells him what he did. It's cute.

Jaydon folds his arms during our prayers now. We all knelt down at the coffee table and i look over and he is leaning on the table with his arms folded. MELT. MY. HEART. It was the cutest thing EVER!!! He did it again tonight. BUT this time he tried KNEELING too. BUT his version of kneeling was squatting. It was so freakin cute! I LOVE it! He just stares at us during the prayer, like he is trying to figure out exactly what position to get into b/c he wants to do what we are doing. He is figuring it out. He always yells my name... "MOM!" I turn to look at him and say "What is it Jaydon?" And he starts babbling something to me like he is trying to tell me something. It is sooooooooo cute!

People, babysitting is expensive 'round here!!! HOLY MOLY! We had the sweetest 13 year old girl babysit, and she charges $7.00 an hour. We were gone for five hours. $35.00 for babysitting!! Our date night was freakin expensive!(we can't do that much) We went to Texas Roadhouse, which is Shane's favorite restaurant. We loved it! That place was packed! And it was packed full of cowboys and cowgirls. Everyone in there was wearing a cowboy hat and boots. I soooooooo LOVE finding and noticing the differences of one state versus another. It is so cool. Then we went to the Texas Ranch Roundup. It was lots of fun. Our favorite part was watching the cowboys rope a mommy cow, try to hold her down long enough to milk her, AND that milk has to make it into a coke bottle, then RUN it as fast as they can to the judges, where they stop there time. Whoever does it fastest wins. It was soooo funny watching the guys trying to keep a mommy cow still long enough to get some milk in that bottle! haha! Then of course we watched the cowboys get bucked off horses...one guy totally got stomped on by his horse. I am sure he broke something. He was limping off pretty bad.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OHIO AND TEXAS:
Now, you know how i said i love finding the differences in one state versus another? Well, let me tell you the differences of this place compared to Ohio.
1. In Cleveland, the radio consists of rap, R&B, soul, and pop music.
In Texas, all you hear on the radio is christian music, country music, or mexican tunes.
2. In Cleveland, the people are generally unhappy, grumpy, and walk around with an attitude problem...like the world owes them everything.
In Texas, people are happy, helpful, thoughtful, and down to earth.
3. In Cleveland we never had to water our lawn, ever. We mowed our lawn about once every 1 1/2 to 2 weeks.
In Texas, we have to mow twice a week and we have to water our lawn every day or it will die.
4. In Cleveland, the ten day forecast had about 1/2 of those days with clouds. And when it rained it lasted for awhile it seemed...like the whole day it would rain or it would rain for a few days with no sunshine.
In Texas, it NEVER rains. If it rains you get a good thunderstorm with it, and that's exciting. We have seen rain at most, five times since we have been here. And we have been here for a month and a half. And if it rains, it lasts at the most about an hour, and then the sun comes back out.
5. In Cleveland, i saw spiders all the time in our house and thought it was gross. I had no idea how good i had it. They were small.
In Texas, the spiders are HUGE and SCARY. Crickets are EVERYWHERE. I walked out of a store and looked over and the sidewalk was literally COVERED with dead crickets. There was probably a thousand of them. It was the sickest thing i had ever seen. BUGS here are everywhere, all over.
6. Cleveland had those big bumblebees.
Texas has wasps and hornets.
7. In cleveland, nobody has a swimming pool in their backyard. What's the point? You don't get to enjoy it much.
In Texas, Just about every other house has a swimming pool. And you don't need to heat it b/c it gets so HOT here that the sun heats it for you. Here you can enjoy your pool all the way til the end of september. And i am not sure when it starts. Maybe beginning of May, end of April...?
8. In Cleveland, you see lots of pimped out escalades, hummers, cadillacs, etc. You know, with tinted windows, awesome rims...It's like a fancy house on wheels.
In Texas, there are TRUCKS everywhere. AMERICAN made trucks. People here are very patriotic.
9. In Cleveland, i thought it got humid.
I was wrong. In Texas, its really really humid and sticky. ick. gross. I hate when i shower up, go outside, and when i come back in i feel like i have to shower again b/c i got sticky and sweaty within five minutes.
10. In Cleveland, you would ALWAYS see "pants on the ground". Pants would be sitting right below men's bum cheeks...so you could see their underwear. And when they walked, they walked like they had something stuck up their crack...and that's b/c they are trying to keep their pants from falling right off...but it wouldn't matter if their pants fell off b/c i am already seeing the part of their body(bum) that i don't want to see.
In Texas, everyone wears wrangler jeans with a belt, and boots.
11. In texas, the atmosphere is so different from ohio. I feel like i am in hickville.
In ohio i felt like i was in ghettoville.

OH, and one more thing....i still stand by my opinion that Ohio drivers are the craziest raging drivers i have seen. Texas doesn't compare. I had way too many incidences in Ohio to convince me otherwise. I havent' noticed a bad thing YET about Texas drivers. And, yes, i have been to Dallas and still didn't notice any craziness. Ohio drivers take the cake on that one. :)

{My Niece is 8...}

So, i had to show you guys what i did. My niece turned 8 a couple weeks ago. She was baptized and i really wanted to do something for her since we couldn't be there. The perfect thing came to my mind. There is something that the Young Women's Presidency gave all the young women when i was an advisor in YW's, about 5 years ago. I am pretty sure that one of the Ladies in that Presidency made these and i thought it was sooooooo special and cute and wanted to save it and frame it for my little girl, when i had one. I don't have one. Sadly, probably never will. So, i thought it would be perfect to frame that thing she made and give it to my niece.

So, here is what i did....

I found this OLD bronzy, silverish, greyish picture frame for .25 cents.I spray painted it white and this is how it looks now...I can't wait to send it to her and i think it will look so cute in her cute pink and purple room.

If you can't read it, the top says "pure and holy in a little white dress, you were held in a circle and you were blessed." The second one says, "Pure and holy in a little white dress you were led into the water and you were blessed." The next one says , "Pure and Holy in a long white dress you promise forever and you are blessed." The last thing says, "...the Father looked down and angels surrounded that place. They knew the truth, all that you could do, and you will too, if you have eyes to see, what Heaven sees in you."

{Two Stories}

First...I had just vacuumed the boys room. I was taking off their sheets to wash them and as i was walking out i thought i saw something out of the corner of my eye on the floor. I get out of the room and decide to turn around look and see what it was. It saw the HUGEST spider i have EVER seen in my ENTIRE life! HUMONGOUS! I went running and yelling and FR.EAK.ING. out! I was trying to tell Shane what was happening and actually surprised myself with my own reaction. I started hyperventilating as i was telling him. I started getting light headed and thought i was going to pass out. I was TERRIFIED and have never been more TERRIFIED in my life! Shane goes in to look and as he gets closer to look at the spider(he is standing on the bed b/c he didnt want to walk on the carpet since the spider was there)....He said, "It's one of the boys fake bugs." I said, "Are you serious?" I said, "Go over and pick him up if it's fake." Shane wouldn't. I think he was freaked out by the fact that it was still a possibility that it is real. Gavin went over and picked it up. It was fake. Right then i knew that i have arachnaphobia.

Second. I was just called as the Acitivity Day Advisor here in this ward. I was excited about it. I went to one of the activity's with the girls, which was a swimming party. Got to know them a little and had fun. I started planning on what i wanted to give them, how i wanted things to go...just making plans. THEN, i get called into the Bishop's office today and he decided that there is a better calling for me that he felt i should be doing. He asked me to be the 2nd Counselor in the Young Women's Presidency. Now, i guess shane had talked to the Bishop about this a few days ago, and he told shane what he was planning on doing and asking shane if it was alright. I am nervous. There are a lot of Young Women. I remember what it was like being a teenager. Nervous. :) So, i just hope i can do a good job. I am excited about it though. What's funny is that before we got here i was thinking "Oh, this year in Texas will be easy with church callings. Nobody is going to call me to a big position b/c we will only be there for one year!" Well, again, i was proved wrong, like i always am. I need to keep my mouth shut. Last time i said something i was called to the Primary Presidency. I said, "i think the last calling i would want is to be in the primary." One week later i was called into the primary presidency. hahaha! I really enjoyed it though.

A trend has started. the 2nd couselor trend. So far, 2nd counselor in primary and 2nd counselor in young womens...maybe the next place we move to i will be called as 2nd counselor in Relief Society! haha!

MOM, do you remember when you gave me a few books that help you plan out lessons for primary and gave me a bunch of papers to go along with it? And shortly after you gave me that stuff i was called into the primary? Then, not too long ago, you gave me a bunch of old papers you had for Young Women...useful papers for teaching....that you had kept but wanted to get rid of and you gave them to me? Well, remember when you gave them to me i said, "wouldn't that be funny if i got called into young women's...sort of like after you gave me those papers for primary i was called into primary?" Well, it happened AGAIN. Stop giving me papers! hahaha...i am totally kidding. Well, you are my little angel sent from up above to prepare me for what's coming...you just didn't realize it. :) you sweety little tooty pie.

{What I've Been Up To}

I am really into trying to make my home feel like a HOME. I want it to represent ME and my style. I don't have the money to go out and BUY new stuff so i realized i better learn to transform certain pieces of furniture OR learn how to decorate(which i have been reading up on and finding inspiration through blogs). This is my first time having a fireplace mantel to work with. I want this as my FOCAL POINT of the room. So, this is what i came up with. What do you think? I really wanted to blow up our family picture HUGE and put it up there. BUT i would have to buy a huge picture frame which would cost AT LEAST $30.00 and then i would have to blow up the picture, which i would need a good place to do it for me and that can be pricey. So, i did this instead. WHEN i have the money i will get a huge family picture up on the wall. My mom bought me those glass containers on the mantel. In the container to the far left i put seashells in. But they aren't just ANY seashell. Those seashells are one's i gathered on our trip to Riviera Maya and brought home with us. So, they have a story to tell. In the middle container i put a small layer of rocks from our backyard and then put in a candle, which i bought for $5.00 and it smells sooooo darn good. Like fall. :) Then i bought those little fall ball things(with little baby acorns on the bottom) in the next container for like $6.00. I already had the pictures. I already had the vase and stick things that are in it. Already had the books. So, to make my mantel look the way i wanted it to i only spent about $12.00. Oh and that little square plaque next to my books i already had. My mom bought that for me too. It has a cute little quote on it that says "It's not what you have but who you have that counts." The next thing i did. My sister gave me this old worn out looking ugly brown foyer table that my parents had given her...and we had this table all growing up too. It had two glass squares on top that you can take off to clean and just place back on when your done. Well, i bought a sample of black paint for like $3.00 b/c that is all i needed. Painted it black. We already had the paint brushes. Then i found some tiles that were on sale at Home Depot and had them cut to the measurements i needed and replaced the glass on the table with tiles. So, this table only cost me about seven bucks. Now i just need to figure out what i am going to put on it. I am also going to sand it down a little to give it a little antique look. Fun, huh!? I am so proud of myself. I really want to learn how to make things so that i can build what i want without having to go out and buy it NEW at double the price. We will see. :)

{My Dream Home}

I am so coveting this house. :) I found this lady's blog and here is a link to her home. I absolutely positively LOVE every single thing about her home and this is what i hope to have one day! sigh. I am dying for the KITCHEN! Oh. my. gosh. I would make it slightly larger, but it is so me. I love everything from the kitchen, to the dining room, to the deck to the enormous space and property in the backyard, to the dog. Oh i love it all. You have to take a look.


http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2010/04/parade-of-homes-stop-no19-welcome-to.html

{Blue Lion Preschool)

Gavin starts Kindergarten on Monday. So, i figured i better put something together for Tanner during the week for when Gavin is gone. Tanner will probably struggle if i don't keep him busy. With Gavin not around he won't know what to do with himself. They are best buds. He and Jaydon will definitely have to learn to get along, which is good. :)

So, i decided to put together a preschool for Tanner. He is excited that he "gets to go to school" like Gavin. He is going to get up every morning and get ready just like Gavin, we will take Gavin to school and as soon as we get home Tanner will get his backpack and we will start preschool. I asked Tanner what he wanted to name his preschool. He didn't know. So, i asked him his favorite color. Blue. Then i asked him what his favorite animal is. Lion. So, i said "can we call it BLUE LION?" He thought that was funny, so that is what we are calling it.

I have put together a Binder of the preschool year(well, i have only printed out 10 days so far for the first two weeks). I have typed up, for each preschool day, what the schedule consists of and each activity learning experience we will be doing. Here is a general idea of what his weeks look like.

BLUE LION PRESCHOOL

Monday: Preschool(Letters, shapes)
Tuesday: Devotional Tuesday
Wednesday: Preschool(Numbers, colors)
Thursday: Craft and Science Day
Friday: Baking Day and Game Day

His preschool days(Monday & Wednesday) will consist of learning about letters, shapes, numbers, colors(spread out through the year) and then i am going to have singing time and story time on each of those days. There are so many varieties of things i am going to do, so he should have a lot of different fun and exciting new things to do to learn all the essentials.

For Devotional Tuesday i have found a great website(www.keepinthecastle.blogspot.com) where they have TONS of devotionals all prepared for preschool age kids. The first week we are learning about Noah. The second week we are learning about the Good Samaritan. And they are very good devotionals this couple put together for everyone. So i printed out some of the devotionals and put those in my binder.

On Thursday's(Craft and Science Day) i am going to show him stuff that has to do with science. I have planned one of those days to make a volcano out of playdough and put baking soda and vinegar in to watch the reaction that happens. Stuff like that. For the craft i go to enchantedlearning.com to choose which craft he and i will make that day. The first craft day we are going to make paper plate owls. I am going to tell him a story about owls first and help him learn about owls and then we will make the paper plate owls.

On Baking and Game day(Friday) we are going to make some yummy treats, so that we can eat them and also so that Gavin and Daddy will have a treat when they get home. Growing up my mom always had a cake waiting for us on Friday's. I loved it. So, i am going to start that with my family. The first week we are going to make Muddy Buddies. The second week we are making the worms in dirt....you know, the chocolate pudding with crumbled oreos on top and the worms in it, so it looks like worms in dirt! :) And we will play games these days together as well.

Have no fear....i have been working on a few things for Jaydon to do to help him start learning! As long as he isn't napping, which i had planned on him doing during this time, unless he is happy. I will do something for him.

Honestly, i am so proud of myself. I actually came up with this weekly schedule on my own. Usually i have to get the ideas from online from other people who do this. Nope. I did it. I can't believe i did it on my own. I know, it seems so simple, right? Not for me. I don't usually consider myself someone organized like this. I am so excited to start this with him. I just hope he likes it as much as i do! :) haha! Now, the crafts and devotionals, and activities for learning i had to get online. I am not that creative. :)

{Kindergarten, Friend, and Pictures}

So, Gavin came up to me yesterday and was holding the FRIEND magazine in his hands, open to a certain page. He pointed to the page and said, "Mom, will you make this with me?" It was a recipe for chocolate chip banana bread. I looked at the ingredients and sure enough we have everything we needed to make it. I let the boys make the bread, which is good for me b/c usually i am really OCD about people trying to help me cook in my kitchen....BELIEVE IT OR NOT. :) haha! And i am really not an OCD person...so i don't know why i am with that! ): Anyway, they made it and when it was done they ate it down! It was really yummy bread. I just started getting the FRIEND and Gavin really likes it. He turns to every page and wants me to read the entire magazine for him. I am glad we get it now.

NEXT....I took Gavin's kindergarten pictures. He starts kindergarten in about a week and a half. He is so darn excited! We already got him his school supplies, his new backpack and a lunch pack. I must admit, i am excited for him to start too. He needs it. He is bored at home. So, i decided to take his kindergarten pictures and i also took some of Tanner. I am going to do homeschool preschool for Tanner this year. I plan to do it with him everyday. There are lots of website that provide great information on what i can do with him in preschool. So, here are there pictures. Now i just have to send them out to family.


I really wish i could have done these b&w pics in color, BUT it was SOOOO HOT and Gavin's cheeks were flaming red by this point. It is miserable taking outdoor pics during this time of year. I really need to wait until the weather starts cooling off. We got home and shane was like "is your shirt all wet?" Sure enough, it was. I had no idea, but i was sweating like crazy. It was hard to get these pictures b/c the boys didn't like the heat much either. I am glad i started picking up my camera again. I had been in quite a slump for awhile, but with a little help from looking at some CUTE pics that my friend took i think i am now back on the bandwagon. :) We will see. :)

{So Refreshing}

I LOVE this drink. I buy the box and it contains packets that you can pour into your water bottle or into a cup after your workout. I LOVE the grape flavor! I drink this after my workouts. It is so DARN tasty. It says to put it into 2 cups of water, but i put it in a little less than 2 b/c it makes it taste sweeter! hahaha! But i chug enough water after i finish it off! It has no artificial sweeteners, flavors, or preservatives. AND it has elecrolytes to aid in hydration. You should try it!

{Our Saturday}

Our day today was lots of fun for the boys. We went out to Call Field and watched some WWII planes do some demonstrations. They came flying back there target and through a bag of flour out of the plane and tried to hit the target. You can see where the bag of flour landed on #1 and the target was #2. The target was a bunch of white tires forming a circle. The boys had lots of fun watching that.
While we were there i realized...OH my grandpa Seifert flew in WWII!! I couldn't remember exactly what he did so i HAD to call my dad to get the scoop on him. I never knew this before, probably b/c i wasn't interested in knowing, but i loved hearing my grandpa's story from my dad. My Grandpa Seifert flew 24 missions over Europe in WWII. He was a navigator and a bombardier. He did night flying combat in high altitude bomber planes....the B-24. He was lead bombardier/navigator for the Royal Air Force of England . I guess England didn't have the technology we had so they needed our help. So, my grandpa led them. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross and three air medals. Pretty neat huh?



Before we headed to the pool we went and bought tanner some new clothes. He was in pretty desperate need! :) Then we realize it is just too hot to NOT go to the pool. So we headed to the pool and stayed for 2 hours. The boys LOVE it there. They have lots of kiddie slides to go on and it's about knee high water. They love it. Unfortunately it closes the end of August when school starts. Who does that?! It's still HOT here at that time. So, i will have to take tanner and jaydon up to the base to swim when that happens.

Overall, it has been a fun day for us. Now we are sitting and relaxing.

{HEAT}

It is HOT here people. It's over 100 degrees just about every day. Plus, with the humidity it makes it even more miserable. Dry heat is easier to deal with, but when you mess with humid heat, ugggghhh! You don't even want to walk outside. I had forgotten how HOT it gets down in these parts. And when you do go outside, you feel sooo sticky and start sweating instantly. If you go outside you better be going out to get to the pool otherwise what are you doing outside?!?! So, today i am taking the boys to the pool after we go to a lunch with daddy and his other fellow Captains and his Commander. I can't wait. I can't remember the last time i WANTED to get to a pool like i do now. haha! :)
I mean, get this...We have an attic above our garage. I went up there one day and instantly realized, "who needs a sauna?! we have one right here!" But i would bet it was hotter than any sauna i had ever been in. Now, you can guarantee that if we end up staying in Texas(or somewhere that's hot like this place) the three years after this one year, we will definitely be renting a home with a pool. No questions asked. You have to have a pool here.

{Outdoor & Indoor FuN}

My friend inspired me to pick up my camera. And so i did....

This is a classic face Jaydon makes about 50 times a day....

Loves cuddling with pillows, beds and blankets...

Tanner tickling Gavin...

All my boys in the pool.... haha!

Shane trying to get me wet!...

{The THINGS my BOYS say...}

Tanner's first. We needed to have a blessing on the food at dinner, and asked Tanner to say the PrAyEr. This is what he said, "Heavenly Father, thank you for this DAY. Please bless the FooD to keep us hEaLtHy and strong. Please bless Daddy and Gavin to choose the RiGhT. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." (I thought it was HiLaRiOuS. He could pick out the 2 partner's in crime and thought they could use a little extra help. :) Hahaha!)

Gavin's next. So, i am amazed how Gavin remembers words to songs. He takes after me. Anyway, we were EaTiNg lunch the other day and he suddenly starts busting out singing, "What's LoVe got to do, got to do with it!" I said, "How do you know that song?" I asked him that because i don't remember the last time i heard that song! He said, "i REMEMBER it from when we lived in Ohio." Wow, i was impressed. Then we were in the car 2 days ago and he starts singing words to this christian RoCk song that i had never really heard before! How in the world did he know the words?! I thought i LIsTeN to and know everything he listens to. I am BoGgLeD by it. It is so cute though.

Jaydon. He LoVeS giving mommy HuGs. I got DoWn on my HaNdS and KneEs during a WoRkOut and he came WaLkInG to me with this BIG ole GrIn on his FaCe and WrApS his ArMs around my HeAd and gives me a BIG ole HUG! I LOVED it. Those sWeEt moMeNtS completely MeLt me.

On another note...my blog is finally coming together. I still have more i want to do to make it cute, but it's going to take time. I am just excited i have had the time lately to do it. :)

{More from our trip to Tulsa}

I have one other post below this one about our trip to Tulsa if you would like to check it out.

Here are some pictures i took from our trip...
These boys are FINALLY starting to get the hang of swimming with floaties on. They will go out in the middle of the pool by themselves and swim all around. I think it's time for swim lessons. Tanner has been pretty scared of water, but i have been trying to warm him up to it and i think it's working. :)

Here's Jaydon trying to put on his BIG brothers HaT. He doesn't like HaTs on his HeAd, but he likes to try to PuT them On.

Gavin was resting on the pillow for a minute and i caught this picture. They LOVE staying at hotels. They were jumping from one bed to the next, wrestling each other, tickling each other, and just having a BLAsT!

{My roots...ME}

We decided to make a last minute quick trip to Tulsa, where i did most of my growing years! I was so excited to see the place again and especially so that Shane gets a chance to see where i grew up. Here we go on the journey...
When you go across the river you enter into JENKS, OK, which is where i attended highschool! Funny that my last name is Jenks, huh?! It was amazing to see how much Jenks, OK has grown. Holy cow. It is awesome. Here is our Football stadium where magic happened. That big building right there is their new fitness center. That is my first time seeing it! It is awesome. Our class 6A football team was the Best of the BEST. Seriously. I was there at the best time when we had the Legion of Doom. Their defense was the best of them. They whooped(and i mean whooped!) anyone that came their way. They were ranked No. 5 Nationally! They were awesome and they were so much fun to watch. Their rivalry is Union and i think they played them every single year in the championship game.They would hold the games at Stadiums like OSU...where about 40,000 would attend or more. It was a HUGE deal. There's is a storied highschool rivalry. It's a legacy. WOW...okay, can you tell i am proud? I love Oklahoma football, not only b/c of my highschool but b/c we have OU football. Quite a few guys from my highschool played for OU....its a big thing for me! :) So, it was so fun to go back and see the stadium. Go Jenks Trojans! :) (i know, i am a dork)This is where highschool graduation was held. They held it at Oral Roberts University in ONE of their many buildings.

This is for my friends from Tulsa. Jenks is in the process of building two new buildings on the highschool campus. One is an aquatic center...

The other is a math and science center...

The YMCA! This is where i worked out and it is also where i had my first job at the age of 15. I was a lifeguard and i also taught swim lessons. I was also on a swim team here too. Oh the memories! :)

Here is the house i grew up in...

haha...just kidding. Actually, there are TONS of new houses that have gone in all around where i lived. This is one of them. They are b.e. a. utiful. We decided that we want to build our future home like this so we took a picture and it will come in handy in 4 years. :) haha!....i wish.

Now, for real. This is the home i grew up in....

The window on the FAR right sort of hiding behind the trees is where Stephen's bedroom was at. The window closest to his room to the left of it is where our formal living room was. Then the window to the left of that is just the foyer, but if you look into the window you will see the stairs that lead you up to my room, and holly's room, which are both on the right side of the house. Her window overlooked the backyard and mine overlooked the neighbors yard. My room was slightly above stephen's room. the gameroom and office are upstairs to the left.. The window that is to the left of the front door is where our formal dining room was. And the window on the far left is the garage. And the window above the garage is the office. The kitchen is back behind the formal dining room. The TV room is behind the formal living area and the stairs. My parents room you get to by going out of my brother stephen's room, walking down the hall, walking straight towards the back of the house and there is their room. Oh, actually, the office is where Brion's room was. It turned into the office(which is what it is supposed to be b/c its small) when stephen moved out b/c then brion moved into stephens room. There is a door that is in the TV room that leads out to the wood deck,pool, and hot tub.. OH i miss it.
Aaaahhhh, i mowed that lawn so many times. So many memories here! We lived on one acre of land. I LOVE this house and miss it terribly. What you don't see is that we had a pool and hot tub in the backyard. Oh i miss that. No words can describe how i miss it. Shane knows that coming up soon we are going to have to buy a home with a pool in the backyard, or when we build our home we will have to put one in. That is one thing that is WONDERFUL to have. Also, my dad would always mow a baseball diamond in the grass so we could play ball. We also had a basketball hoop in the driveway that i would use all the time. After living in our home in cleveland for so long and just living in tiny compact space....going back to tulsa i forgot how nice it is and beautiful. I didn't realize how good i had it as a teenager. But i guess most teenagers don't ever realize anything good....well, i didn't. :) That area is beautiful and full of trees. I want to move back so bad. Well, sort of. I would just like to take my old neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods with me to wherever we move to.

Tulsa is so pretty. They have lots of trees and its pretty hilly. It sure isn't flat like texas. It's funny b/c the drive home we realized how quickly it went from hilly and lots of trees to flat and not many trees when we got closer to texas. I like texas though. It's great. I just love the people. We have made some wonderful friends here and i just love em! :)

It was great to visit my hometown. We also went to my old ward. I am surprised how many families are still there. And we met a family in that ward that wasn't there when i lived there whose daughter is here at sheppard air force base. Her husband is a dentist. What a small world. So, i am going to look them up and find them. i also surprised myself with the feelings that came over me. When i saw all those people in that ward it suddenly felt like i was seeing FAMILY that i hadn't seen in ten years. They felt like family to me. I cried when we left tulsa b/c i had so many feelings coming back, so many memories, so many bad memories, and most of all, visiting was a good experience. I have grown up a ton since i was last back there so my eyes were opened to the place in a different way than they were before. I mean, it has been about 8 years since i had been there. BUT those were only visits. It's been since i graduated in 1999 that i have really lived there. Anyway, i didn't want to leave. I felt like i was home. I have never had a place that has felt like a home where i belong b/c we have moved so much. I mean, i make memories at places, but we have never lived somewhere long enough to feel like it is my home. Tulsa in the one place i have lived the longest, for sure. 6 years. Plus visits for holidays after leaving home for college. I mean, listen...i was born in Oklahoma. After living there awhile we moved to Ohio, then to Michigan, then to south carolina, then back to oklahoma...then i moved to idaho then to utah, then moved back home to oklahoma but that was very temporary b/c then we moved to minnesota. Then i moved back to idaho and then we moved to ohio and now we are in texas. So, you see why no place has ever felt like it's my HOME HOME. Well, going to tulsa made me realize....this IS YOUR HOME. This is where you can feel you belong. And i miss it. I wanted so bad to be able to go up to my home in tulsa and walk in and see my family there. It cries making me think about it. I want that for my kids. As much as i am now liking moving around and seeing new places all the time, i want a place ,y boys can call home...where all their memories are made. A place they can feel the same way i feel about tulsa.

I have more pictures to post...mainly of the boys from our trip to tulsa.